Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs
@article{Wilson2012AdaptiveRO, title={Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs}, author={G P Wilson and Alistair R. Evans and Ian J. Corfe and Peter D. Smits and Mikael Fortelius and Jukka Jernvall}, journal={Nature}, year={2012}, volume={483}, pages={457-460} }
The Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction approximately 66 million years ago is conventionally thought to have been a turning point in mammalian evolution. Prior to that event and for the first two-thirds of their evolutionary history, mammals were mostly confined to roles as generalized, small-bodied, nocturnal insectivores, presumably under selection pressures from dinosaurs. Release from these pressures, by extinction of non-avian dinosaurs at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, triggered…
203 Citations
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