Morphology forms the most fundamental level of data in vertebrate palaeontology because it
is through interpretations of morphology that taxa are identified, creating the basis for broad …

The herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods were the
largest terrestrial animals ever, surpassing the largest herbivorous mammals by an order of …

THE EVOLUTIONARY STRATEGIES THAT SHAPE ECOSYSTEMS In 1837 a young Charles
Darwin took his notebook, wrote “I think”, and then sketched a rudimentary, stick-like tree …

Background Body size is intimately related to the physiology and ecology of an organism.
Therefore, accurate and consistent body mass estimates are essential for inferring …

Somatic growth is a fundamental property of living organisms, and is of particular importance
for species with indeterminate growth that can change in size continuously throughout their …

Were dinosaurs ectotherms or fast-metabolizing endotherms whose activities were
unconstrained by temperature? To date, some of the strongest evidence for endothermy …

In amniotes, the predominant developmental strategy underlying body size evolution is
thought to be adjustments to the rate of growth rather than its duration. However, most …

The independent evolution of gigantism among dinosaurs has been a topic of long-standing
interest, but it remains unclear if gigantic theropods, the largest bipeds in the fossil record, all …

The defining masterwork on the evolution of reptiles. Over 300 million years ago, an early
land vertebrate developed an egg that contained the embryo in an amnion, allowing it to be …

Sauropods were the largest terrestrial tetrapods (> 105 kg) in Earth's history and grew at
rates that rival those of extant mammals. Magyarosaurus dacus, a titanosaurian sauropod …