Why are there so few species of animals?

Why are there so few fish in the sea?

The most dramatic gradient in global biodiversity is between marine and terrestrial environments. Terrestrial environments contain approximately 75-85% of all estimated species, but occupy only 30 per cent of the Earth's surface (and only approx. 1-10% by volume), whereas marine environments occupy a larger area and volume, but have a smaller fraction of Earth's estimated diversity. Many hypoth...

Why are there so many species in the tropics?

Known for centuries, the geographical pattern of increasing biodiversity from the poles to the equator is one of the most pervasive features of life on Earth. A longstanding goal of biogeographers has been to understand the primary factors that generate and maintain high diversity in the tropics. Many 'historical' and 'ecological' hypotheses have been proposed and debated, but there is still li...

Why are there so few smart mammals (but so many smart birds)?

The expensive brain hypothesis predicts an interspecific link between relative brain size and life-history pace. Indeed, animals with relatively large brains have reduced rates of growth and reproduction. However, they also have increased total lifespan. Here we show that the reduction in production with increasing brain size is not fully compensated by the increase in lifespan. Consequently, t...

Why are some animals so smart?

Phylogeography and molecular phylogeny of Macaronesian island Tarphius (Coleoptera: Zopheridae): why are there so few species in the Azores?

Azorean Biodiversity Group, CITA-A, Universidade dos Açores, Rua Capitão João d¢Ávila, 9700-042 Angra do Heroı́smo, Terceira, Azores, Portugal, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK, Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group, IPNA-CSIC, C/ Astrofı́sico Francisco Sánchez 3, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary I...