RPG: Comparative Physiology of Bivalves and Brachiopods: Evidence for Evolution and Escalation?

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9405300 Rhodes PI will investigate, in collaboration with members of the British Antarctic Survey, the energy needs of the living polar brachiopod species, Liothyrella uva, and compare it to a sympatric bivalve species. This work will lead to a larger-scale comparative study of species from temperate and tropical waters. The study is intended to test the hypothesis that large-scale changes in diversity and shifts in habitat, inferred from the fossil record, have been shaped primarily by individual-level biological interactions, a hotly debated topic. Competing hypotheses are that chance and environmental changes account for most of the large- scale patterns found during the history of life.