A fundamental question in paleobiology is whether ecology is correlated with evolutionary history. By combining time-calibrated phylogenetic trees with genus occurrence data through time, we can understand how environmental preferences are distributed on a tree and evaluate support for models of ecological similarity. Exploring parameters that lend support to each evolutionary model will help address questions that lie at the nexus of the evolutionary and ecological sciences. We calculated ecological difference and phylogenetic distance between species pairs for 83 taxa used in recent phylogenetic revisions of the brachiopod order Strophomenida. Ecological difference was calculated as the pairwise distance along gradients of water depth, carbonate, and latitudinal affinity. Phylogenetic distance was calculated as the pairwise branch length between tips of the tree. Our results show no relationship between ecological affinity and phylogeny. Instead results suggest an ecological burst during the initial radiation of the clade. This pattern likely reflects scaling at the largest macroevolutionary and macroecological scales preserved in the fossil record. Hierarchical scaling of ecological and evolutionary processes is complex, but phylogenetic paleoecology is an avenue for better evaluating these questions.

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进化相关性能预测生态相似性吗？

古生物学的一个基本问题是生态学是否与进化史相关。通过将时间校准的系统发育树与属发生时间数据相结合，我们可以了解环境偏好如何在树上分布并评估对生态相似性模型的支持。探索支持每个进化模型的参数将有助于解决进化和生态科学之间存在的问题。我们计算了近来腕足目 Strophomenida 的系统发育修订中使用的 83 个分类群的物种对之间的生态差异和系统发育距离。生态差异计算为沿水深、碳酸盐和纬度亲和力梯度的成对距离。系统发育距离计算为树尖之间的成对分支长度。我们的结果表明生态亲和力和系统发育之间没有关系。相反，结果表明在进化枝的初始辐射期间发生了生态爆发。这种模式可能反映了化石记录中保存的最大宏观进化和宏观生态尺度的尺度。生态和进化过程的等级尺度是复杂的，但系统发育古生态学是更好地评估这些问题的途径。