Evolution and Paleontology Studies

Trade-offs beget trade-offs: Causal analysis of mammalian population dynamics

This study uses phylogenetic path analysis to examine how life history traits affect population dynamics metrics like effective population size and density across mammalian species.

Evolutionary bursts drive morphological novelty in the world's largest skinks

This study investigates the tempo and mode of morphological evolution in skinks, finding that most traits evolve conservatively but rare bursts of rapid change produce novel morphologies.

Novel phylogenomic inference and 'Out of Asia' biogeography of cobras, coral snakes, and their allies

The paper infers the evolutionary relationships and biogeography of cobras and coral snakes, rejecting an 'Out of Africa' hypothesis and supporting an 'Out of Asia' scenario.

A discrete character evolution model for phylogenetic comparative biology with {Gamma}-distributed rate heterogeneity among branches of the tree

The paper introduces a discrete character evolution model with Gamma-distributed rate heterogeneity among branches and applies it to estimate rate parameters and improve ancestral state reconstruction in squamate reptiles.

A dataset containing speciation rates, uncertainty, and presence-absence matrices for more than 34,000 vertebrate species

The paper presents a large-scale dataset of Bayesian diversification rates for over 34,000 vertebrate species, providing continuous speciation rates and presence-absence matrices for evolutionary and spatial diversity analyses.

Fast Bayesian inference of phylogenies from multiple continuous characters

The paper develops Bayesian methods to estimate phylogenies using continuous morphological characters and validates them through simulations and diverse datasets.

Molecular and morphological analyses of the genus Episoriculus with the description of a new subgenus

The paper analyzes molecular and morphological data to clarify the taxonomy of Episoriculus shrews, identifying valid species and describing a new subgenus.

PhylSim: A New Phylogenetic Tool for Modeling Trait Evolution and Speciation

PhylSim simulates trait evolution on phylogenies with variable speciation rates and models, using an example of Antarctic notothenioids' adaptive radiation.

A cranio-incudo joint as the solution to early birth in marsupials and monotremes

The paper identifies the cranio-incudo joint as the mechanism allowing marsupials and monotremes to feed before their jaw joint forms.

Optimal Point Process Filtering for Birth-Death Model Estimation

This paper introduces the Bayesian Snyder filter for estimating birth-death process parameters from phylogenies, showing it is mean square error optimal and comparable to existing methods.

The effects of increasing the number of taxa on inferences of molecular convergence

This study shows that increasing taxon sampling reduces inferred molecular convergence in marine mammals, revealing that some previously identified convergent substitutions are not truly convergent and may instead be due to positive selection.