Do marine mammals diversify more slowly than non-marine mammals?

Species richness is generally lower in marine than in terrestrial ecosystems, but the reasons behind this disparity remain unclear. This study examines whether marine mammals diversify at a slower pace than their non-marine counterparts, aiming to shed light on the factors explaining potential diversification differences among them. We combined time-calibrated phylogenies, species distribution data, and life-history traits to compare DR variation among marine and non-marine mammals, and to assess DR correlation with ecological realm and species traits. Contrary to previous findings at higher taxonomic scales, our results show that marine mammals do not exhibit lower DR than non-marine mammals, but even higher depending on the phylogenetic framework. Our regression analyses indicate that taxonomy (particularly family) is the dominant predictor of DR variation among mammals rather than the ecological realm. Still, DR appears negatively correlated with body mass in marine mammals and with ..., , # Marine *vs.* Non-Marine Diversification

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wpzgmsc1h](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wpzgmsc1h)

This repository contains the data and code used for running the analyses in the study **\"Do marine mammals diversify more slowly than non-marine mammals?\"**, available at [https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.70114](https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.70114)

Authors: Adriana Oliver, Graciela Sotelo, Sofía Galván, Iván Rey-Rodríguez, Adrián Castro-Insua, Sara Gamboa, Marta Matamala-Pagès, Pedro Beca-Carretero, Eduardo Méndez-Quintas, Andrea Serodio, Sara Varela

Year: 2026

Contact: Graciela Sotelo, [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail]){.email}

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## Description

The data consist of the following files:

* **MAMMALS.rds:** shapefile of mammal species distributions from the [IUCN Red List of Threathened Species](https://www.iucnredlist.org/) (version 2024-1), provided as a R object (.rds file format) for convenience. It is read in R as indicated in the script *...,