Metazoan diversification produces new species whose phenotypes diverge at various rates. This diversification in space and time, influenced by environmental factors, including habitat distribution (itself determined partly by paleogeographic changes; see figure below), produces faunas that are more or less distinct and sometimes endemic, and whose composition reflects both the evolutionary and paleobiogeographic history. The team « Metazoan phylogeny and diversification » works on these phenomena through four projects. It includes several vertebrate paleontologists, as well as a few working on mollusks or arthropods.

Project leaders: Emmanuel Gheerbrant, Sevket Sen

The "Old World" project studies the origin and evolution of the Old World fauna before, during, and after closure of the Tethys. This project emphasizes field work to produce new data on the metazoan fossil record (morphological descriptions, phylogenetic analyses, etc.), especially on continental vertebrate evolution in their paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic context, through stratigraphic, geodynamic, and sedimentological studies. The studied sites cover most of the Old World, including Arabo-African, European, and Indian provinces. A sub-project concerns the peri-Tethysian roots of the Old World fauna. It studies the great continental endemism centers (biodiversity, evolutionary radiations, paleoenvironments) that composed the peri-Tethysian provinces, such as Africa (excluding Madagascar) and India and the faunal relationships that had become established before closure of the Tethys. A second sub-project studies faunal exchanges, extinctions and evolutionary radiations that followed the collision between Africa and Eurasia about 22 Ma and, to a lesser extent, between India and Eurasia.

Project leaders: Guillaume Billet, Jérémie Bardin and Isabelle Rouget

Having robust phylogenies is essential to many studies of evolutionary biology. However, methods and data used for phylogenetic reconstruction are diverse and their results and interpretations may strongly differ. Whereas molecular data are usually favored for studies on extant taxa, morphological data are critical for reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships of many fossil groups. Yet, morphological variation embrace many aspects that may reveal hard to deal with and to model realistically and adequately for phylogenetic analyses: integration/modularity, ontogeny, polymorphism, multivariate and continuous variation, etc. In order to strengthen and improve phylogenetic inferences made for fossil taxa, this project aims at enhancing analyses of these complex aspects of morphological data with the use of statistical and morphometrical toolkits.

This project gathers researchers from the team wishing to improve their analyses of morphological variation with an aim to reconstruct phylogenies. It will allow implementing novel and common solutions to analog problems in various taxonomic groups. It will take advantage of the team’s solid experience in morphological phylogenetics and its very diverse taxonomic expertise.

Tenured and tenure-track scientists: Ronan Allain (MC MNHN), Véronique Barriel (MC MNHN), Olivier Béthoux (MC MNHN), Guillaume Billet (PR MNHN), Jorge Cubo (PR SU), Emmanuel Gheerbrant (DR CNRS), Helder Gomes Rodrigues (CR CNRS), Nour-Eddine Jalil (PR MNHN), Isabelle Kruta (MC SU), Michel Laurin (DR CNRS), Grégoire Métais (CR CNRS), Isabelle Rouget (PR MNHN).

Emeritus research scientists and professors: Christian de Muizon, Denis Geraads, Sevket Sen

Teaching and research post-graduates associates and doctoral students: Paul Aubier, Ana Bottallo Quadros, Valentin Buffa, Jordan Gonet,  Alfred Lemierre, Romain Pellarin