Understanding why some clades contain more species than others is a major challenge in evolutionary biology, and variation in dispersal ability and its connection to diversification rate may be part of the explanation. Several studies have suggested a negative relationship between dispersal capacity and diversification rate among living mammals. However, this pattern may differ when also considering extinct species, given known extinction biases. The colonization of new areas by various lineages may be associated with both diversity increases in those colonising lineages and declines in the lineages already present. Past diversity declines are, however, effectively impossible to infer based on phylogenies of extant taxa, and the underlying process may, therefore, be difficult to determine. Here we produce a novel species-level phylogeny of all known extant and extinct species of the order Carnivora and related extinct groups (1,723 species in total) to show that there is instead a positive relationship between dispersal rate and diversification rate when all extinct species are included. Species that disperse between continents leave more descendant species than non-dispersers, and dispersing species belong to lineages that at the time of dispersal were diversifying faster than the average non-disperser. Our study showcases the importance of combining fossils and phylogenies to better understand evolutionary and biogeographic patterns.

中文翻译：

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分散能力预测哺乳动物食肉动物的进化成功

理解为什么一些进化枝比其他进化枝包含更多物种是进化生物学的一个主要挑战，而分散能力的变化及其与多样化速率的联系可能是解释的一部分。多项研究表明，活哺乳动物之间的分散能力和多样化率之间存在负相关关系。但是，考虑到已知的灭绝偏见，在考虑灭绝物种时，这种模式也可能有所不同。各种宗族对新区域的殖民化可能与那些殖民化宗族的多样性增加和已经存在的宗族的减少有关。但是，根据现存分类单元的系统发育，实际上不可能推断出过去的多样性下降，因此可能难以确定基础过程。在这里，我们对食肉目和相关灭绝类（共1,723种）的所有已知灭绝和灭绝物种产生了新的物种水平的系统发育史，表明当所有灭绝物种都处于灭绝状态时，分散速率和多样化速率之间存在正相关关系。包括在内。在各大洲之间分散的物种比不分散的物种留下更多的后代物种，而分散物种属于谱系，在传播时其分布比平均的不分散物种快。我们的研究表明将化石和系统发育相结合以更好地了解进化和生物地理模式的重要性。总共723种），表明包括所有已灭绝物种在内的分散速率和多样化速率之间存在正相关关系。在各大洲之间分散的物种比不分散的物种留下更多的后代物种，而分散物种属于谱系，在传播时其分布比平均的不分散物种快。我们的研究表明将化石和系统发育相结合以更好地了解进化和生物地理模式的重要性。总共723种），表明包括所有已灭绝物种在内的分散速率和多样化速率之间存在正相关关系。在各大洲之间分散的物种比不分散的物种留下更多的后代物种，而分散物种属于谱系，在传播时其分布比平均的不分散物种快。我们的研究表明将化石和系统发育相结合以更好地了解进化和生物地理模式的重要性。