Evolution and Paleontology Studies

REPEATED MARINE-TO-FRESHWATER FISH TRANSITIONS REVEAL PALEOENVIRONMENTAL MODULATION OF ADAPTIVE RADIATION

The paper investigates marine-to-freshwater fish transitions in Sahul rivers, finding that diversification success depends on paleoenvironmental dynamics rather than just ecological opportunity.

Aridification and habitat shifts are associated with diversification in Australian diplodactylid geckos

This study links environmental change and habitat shifts to diversification in Australian geckos using phylogenetic and ecological analyses.

An Alternative Approach to Compute the Likelihood for the DAISIE (Dynamic Assembly of Island biota through Speciation, Immigration, and Extinction) Model

This paper proposes an alternative method to compute the likelihood for the DAISIE model, improving computational efficiency and enabling state-dependent dynamics in island biodiversity studies.

Fossil Freshwater Fishes from the Pliocene of northern Colombia and the Palaeogeography of northern South America

This paper reports new fossil freshwater fish taxa from Pliocene formations in northern Colombia, suggesting historical connectivity between Amazon-Orinoco and trans-Andean drainages.

Revalidation of Manis aurita based on integrative genomic and morphological evidence

This study revalidates Manis aurita as a distinct species using genomic and morphological data from museum specimens.

Unique fingerprint of marine ectotherm body size change during hyperthermal crises

This study compiles data from fossil, historical, and modern studies to show that marine ectotherms generally decrease in body size during hyperthermal events, with stronger responses to higher warming magnitudes.

The phylogenetic signal of extinction through the rise and fall of early vertebrates: field of bullets or clustered strike?

This study examines how extinction patterns varied over time in early vertebrates, showing shifts from clustered to overdispersed extinction during key evolutionary periods.

New data on Quaternary lagomorphs from Lagoa Santa, State Of Minas Gerais, Brazil

This study analyzes 148 fossil and subfossil lagomorph specimens from Lagoa Santa, Brazil, revealing taxonomic and taphonomic patterns across Pleistocene and Holocene deposits.

The influence of reproductive mode on resource competition and diversity patterns in Ediacaran early animal communities

This paper investigates how reproductive mode influenced community dynamics and diversity patterns in Ediacaran animal communities, finding that stolon reproduction limited diversification until the onset of sexual reproduction.

Speciation history shapes patterns of assemblage species richness in birds

This study shows that speciation history influences sympatric species richness in birds, with older clades having higher richness due to longer time for species to accumulate in sympatry.

The Last Iberian Record of Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx): Osteometry and Historical Implications of the Lynx from Sima Topinoria (Cantabria, Spain)

The study analyzes a nearly complete Eurasian lynx skeleton from Sima Topinoria, revealing it dates to ~210 years BP and suggests the species persisted in the Iberian Peninsula until the early 19th century.

Reexamining the evolutionary history of the mammalian medial pterygoid muscle

This paper reevaluates the evolutionary position of the medial pterygoid muscle relative to Meckels cartilage in mammals, challenging traditional interpretations and supporting Patterson's hypothesis about its insertion site and evolutionary significance.

Dental topography and diet in marsupials and comparisons with primates

This study evaluates dental topographic metrics to predict diet in marsupials and compares them to primates, finding varying accuracy depending on the metric and species.

A critical look at directional random walk modeling of sparse fossil data

This paper evaluates the directional random walk model for inferring evolutionary trends from sparse fossil data and finds that generalized least squares (GLS) is more reliable than GRW when measurement errors are large.

Statistical and structural bias in birth-death models

The paper examines statistical and structural biases in birth-death models for estimating speciation and extinction rates from phylogenetic trees and provides corrections to improve accuracy.

Habitat-specific temporal variation in the pace of fish diversification

This study shows that diversification rates in ray-finned fishes vary over time depending on habitat complexity, with accelerated rates in benthic habitats due to feeding innovations.

Life History Optimization and the Macroevolution of Mammal Body Size

This study tests an analytical life history model of optimal size using mammal life history and phylogeny data, showing it explains macroevolutionary patterns of body size evolution.

Evaluating the impact and detectability of mass extinctions on total-evidence dating

This study evaluates how mass extinctions affect phylogenetic dating by simulating their impact and testing detectability using total-evidence dating methods.

Stochastic Character Mapping of Continuous Traits on Phlyogenies

The paper introduces a method for stochastic character mapping of continuous traits on phylogenies, showing higher trait evolution rates in smaller eucalypt trees.

Improving the Robustness of Phylogenetic Independent Contrasts: Addressing Abrupt Evolutionary Shifts with Outlier- and Distribution-Guided Correlation

This paper introduces O(D)GC, a method to improve phylogenetic correlation analysis by detecting and handling abrupt evolutionary shifts, showing lower error rates than existing methods.

Automatic Discovery of Optimal Discrete Character Models

This paper introduces a method for automatically selecting optimal discrete character models using regularization and simulated annealing, showing improved statistical performance and biological realism.

The small Canidae from Cuvieri Cave (Quaternary, Pleistocene), Lagoa Santa, eastern Brazil

This study identifies two subadult Speothos canid remains from Pleistocene deposits in Cuvieri Cave, Lagoa Santa, Brazil, representing the first record of this genus in the cave's fossil record.

A covarion model for phylogenetic estimation using discrete morphological datasets

This paper introduces the covariomorph model, an extension of the covarion model for morphological phylogenetics, showing it improves accuracy by accounting for lineage- and character-specific rate variation in 50% of empirical datasets.

Integrating fossils samples with heterogeneous diversification rates: a combined Multi-Type Fossilized Birth-Death model

This paper introduces a multi-type fossilized birth-death model to jointly infer phylogenies and diversification rates with fossils and extant species, showing improved accuracy when morphological data are available.

Birds that don't exist: niche pre-emption as a constraint on morphological evolution in the Passeroidea

The paper identifies a morphological gap in songbirds that suggests competitive exclusion limited evolutionary opportunities in the Passeroidea.

High Competition and Selective Extinction: How Biotic and Abiotic Drivers Shaped Speciation and Extinction Regimes in Carnivora

This study quantifies how competition and temperature shaped speciation and extinction in Carnivora over 45 million years, showing competition's dual role and temperature's impact on extinction.

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.

Pseudogenes document protracted parallel regression of oral anatomy in myrmecophagous mammals

The paper investigates molecular changes in myrmecophagous mammals, finding pseudogenization of genes related to dentition, gustation, and mastication across convergent lineages.

Historical shifts, geographic biases, and biological constraints shape mammal species discovery

The paper analyzes trends in mammal species descriptions from 1990-2025, finding increased rigor but persistent geographic and biological disparities in comprehensiveness.

Ecological inference from isolated vertebrae: Evaluating functional signal across the carnivoran spine

This study evaluates whether isolated vertebrae can predict ecological traits like running speed and hunting mode in extinct carnivorans, finding that some vertebrae retain strong signals while combinations may dilute them.