Evolution and Paleontology Studies

Phylogenetic estimation of diversity-dependent biogeographic rates using deep learning

DDGeoSSE, a GeoSSE extension in which local species richness modulates speciation, extinction and dispersal, is fit with phyddle neural networks that detect diversity dependence in Anolis and Viburnum.

A novel phylogenetic comparative model reveals strong signals for early high disparity in ichthyosaurs

Combining Early Burst and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes, an Early High Disparity model best fits ichthyosaur skull length across 108 phylogenies, placing median peak disparity at 231.1 Ma.

The locomotor behavior of subfossil Malagasy sloth-lemurs (Strepsirrhini: Palaeopropithecidae) and koala-lemurs (Strepsirrhini: Megaladapidae): new insights from limb trabecular bone

Low femoral trabecular anisotropy and bone volume fraction mark suspensory/bridging mammals, and a phylogenetic discriminant model classifies extinct Palaeopropithecus ingens and Megaladapis edwarsi as suspensory.

Diversification dynamics of the Palaeozoic actinopterygian radiation

Birth-death-sampling models of Palaeozoic ray-finned fish occurrences detect no origination increase after the Hangenberg event; cryptic Late Devonian diversification and survival likely explain Carboniferous diversity gains.

Locomotor Trends Among Early Mammals Illuminated by Predictors of Arboreality from the Mammalian Appendicular Skeleton

Bayesian multilevel models of 69 appendicular skeletal metrics across 236 extant mammal species predict climbing at 95% accuracy and indicate that several Mesozoic therians, including Juramaia, were terrestrial ground-dwellers.

Global plate model choice impacts reconstructions of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient

Across 344,258 Phanerozoic marine invertebrate fossil occurrences, four global plate models often disagree on where latitudinal diversity peaks, with all-model agreement in only ~19% of Palaeozoic stages.