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Science 28 January 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5709, pp. 576 - 580
DOI: 10.1126/science.1104863
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Reports

A Brief History of Seed Size

Angela T. Moles,1,2* David D. Ackerly,3{dagger} Campbell O. Webb,4 John C. Tweddle,5,6 John B. Dickie,6 Mark Westoby2

Improved phylogenies and the accumulation of broad comparative data sets have opened the way for phylogenetic analyses to trace trait evolution in major groups of organisms. We arrayed seed mass data for 12,987 species on the seed plant phylogeny and show the history of seed size from the emergence of the angiosperms through to the present day. The largest single contributor to the present-day spread of seed mass was the divergence between angiosperms and gymnosperms, whereas the widest divergence was between Celastraceae and Parnassiaceae. Wide divergences in seed size were more often associated with divergences in growth form than with divergences in dispersal syndrome or latitude. Cross-species studies and evolutionary theory are consistent with this evidence that growth form and seed size evolve in a coordinated manner.

1 National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101–5304, USA.
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
3 Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305–5020, USA.
4 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520–8106, USA.
5 The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
6 Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK.


{dagger} Present address: Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: amoles{at}bio.mq.edu.au

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)