Mammaliaform extinctions as a driver of the morphological radiation of Cenozoic mammals

@article{Brocklehurst2021MammaliaformEA,
  title={Mammaliaform extinctions as a driver of the morphological radiation of Cenozoic mammals},
  author={Neil Brocklehurst and Elsa Panciroli and Gemma Louise Benevento and Roger B. J. Benson},
  journal={Current Biology},
  year={2021},
  volume={31},
  pages={2955-2963.e4}
}
Adaptive radiations are hypothesized as a generating mechanism for much of the morphological diversity of extant species.1-7 The Cenozoic radiation of placental mammals, the foundational example of this concept,8,9 gave rise to much of the morphological disparity of extant mammals, and is generally attributed to relaxed evolutionary constraints following the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.10-13 However, study of this and other radiations has focused on variation in evolutionary rates,4,5,7… Expand
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Multiple paths to morphological diversification during the origin of amniotes.
TLDR
Evidence for an early burst, comprising high rates of anatomical change that decelerated through time, giving way to a background of saturated morphological evolution is found, demonstrating the importance of variation in modes of phenotypic divergence during a major evolutionary radiation. Expand
Ecological selectivity and the evolution of mammalian substrate preference across the K–Pg boundary
Abstract The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction 66 million years ago was characterized by a worldwide ecological catastrophe and rapid species turnover. Large‐scale devastation of forested… Expand
Evolution: Morphological saturation and release in mammals
  • Michael S.Y. Lee, A. Palci
  • Medicine
  • Current Biology
  • 2021
TLDR
A new study suggests that placental mammals remained constrained for several million years after non-avian dinosaurs perished, perhaps due to competition from archaic mammals. Expand

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