Assessing the effect of the Miocene climate change in the evolution of tropical diversity – MIOTROPICS

The paleontological records provide insights to understand how the earth system and biota have responded to past climatic changes. In the Miocene, the climate was warmer and the CO2 concentration was higher than in pre-industrial times, and it has been suggested as an analogue for future climate scenarios. Climatic models have failed to satisfactorily simulate the tropical Miocene climate in terrestrial ecosystems, and the magnitude and rate of climate change in the tropics during the Miocene and how affected the evolution of tropical biodiversity remains unknown. Miocene paleoclimatic estimates from the tropics will validate or refute climate models simulations and would inform if the models can predict with confidence future climate scenarios.The Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO) is a global warming event that occurred between ~17–14 Ma, followed by a period of cooling (Miocene Climatic Transition, MCT). To study how the MCO and MCT affected tropical ecosystems requires a rich fossil record with precise geologic dates. La Venta in Colombia is the most fossil-rich site of tropical South America. I have been developing a research program in La Venta that provides the basis to study climate change and biotic evolution at this site by establishing a large dataset of fossil records with a precise chronology. This project will take full advantage of the exceptionally rich fossil record of La Venta to (1) reconstruct the climatic changes in a tropical ecosystem during the Miocene and (2) assess how these changes affected the evolution of tropical diversity, using mammals as study system. This project will integrate four interconnected working packages (WPs). In WP1, we will use a geochemical approach to quantify paleoclimate during the MCO and MCT. In WP2, we will establish the changes in taxonomic diversity. In WP3, we will evaluate changes in functional diversity, and in WP4, we will assess the link between changes in community structure and climate change.