Phylogenetic evidence that migratory behavior increases ungulate extinction rates.

Migratory behavior is linked to higher extinction rates in ungulates, with ~80% (41 of 51) of late Quaternary extinctions involving migratory species versus 46% (95 of 207) among extant ones.

• Why it matters: Migration may be fragile for coping with seasonally shifting resources, and this fragility could extend across evolutionary time, not just recent collapses.
• What they did: The study used phylogenetic imputation to infer migration for 51 late Quaternary–extinct ungulate species and compared them with 207 extant species, then applied Hidden State Speciation and Extinction modeling.
• The result: Migratory lineages showed higher speciation and extinction rates and elevated lineage turnover, while functional richness declines were negligible globally (0.8%) but larger across Africa (2.7%).

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