The colonisation of freshwater and marine ecosystems by land vertebrates has repeatedly
occurred in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals over the course of 300 million years …

BACKGROUND More than 30 different lineages of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and
mammals have independently invaded oceans ecosystems. Prominent examples include …

The fossil record of cetaceans documents how terrestrial animals acquired extreme
adaptations and transitioned to a fully aquatic lifestyle,. In whales, this is associated with a …

Secondary aquatic adaptations evolved independently more than 30 times from terrestrial
vertebrate ancestors,. For decades, non-avian dinosaurs were believed to be an exception …

During the Mesozoic, various groups of reptiles underwent a spectacular return to an aquatic
life, colonizing most marine environments. They were highly diversified both systematically …

The incompleteness of the fossil record obscures the origin of many of the more derived
clades of vertebrates. One such group is the Ichthyopterygia, a clade of obligatory marine …

Numerous amniote groups adapted to an aquatic life. This change of habitat naturally led to
numerous convergences. The various adaptive traits vary depending on the degree of …

Sauropterygia was a taxonomically and ecomorphologically diverse clade of Mesozoic
marine reptiles spanning the Early Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. Sauropterygians are …

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 …

A predominantly fish-eating diet was envisioned for the sail-backed theropod dinosaur
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus when its elongate jaws with subconical teeth were unearthed a …