Climatic niche conservatism shapes the macroevolution, extinction, and survivorship of crocodile-line archosaurs.

Climatic niche conservatism in crocodile-line archosaurs is ancient and is characterized by long-term stability in temperature and precipitation preferences over 245 million years.

• Why it matters: Understanding whether niche conservatism reflects deep evolutionary constraints or recent adaptation is crucial for predicting how these species respond to climate change and mass extinctions.
• What they did: The study combined present-day occurrence data with a time-scaled phylogeny of over 400 species, using niche models calibrated on living crocodylians and paleogeographic reconstructions to analyze macroevolutionary patterns.
• The result: Findings show that crocodile-line archosaurs tracked conserved climatic optima through bounded Ornstein-Uhlenbeck dynamics, with poleward expansions during warm periods and persistent low-latitude suitability, enabling survival through major climate shifts.