Birds exhibit two types of sleep that are in many respects similar to mammalian rapid eye
movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep. As in mammals, several aspects of avian …

Species of the order Crocodylia are mostly large, predatory and semi-aquatic reptiles.
Crocodylia, the closest living relatives of birds, first appeared in the Late Cretaceous period …

Given that the biology of the recently extinct aepyornithids is poorly understood, we
undertook a histological study of 29 skeletal elements of adult and juvenile specimens of …

Conservation of DNA sequence over evolutionary time is a strong indicator of function, and
gain or loss of sequence conservation can be used to infer changes in function across a …

The modifications that occur on proteins in natural environments over time are not well
studied, yet characterizing them is vital to correctly interpret sequence data recovered from …

Glyptodonts were giant (some of them up to~ 2400 kg), heavily armoured relatives of living
armadillos, which became extinct during the Late Pleistocene/early Holocene alongside …

Palaeognathae consists of five groups of extant species: flighted tinamous (1) and four
flightless groups: kiwi (2), cassowaries and emu (3), rheas (4), and ostriches (5). Molecular …

Dispersal ability is a key factor in determining insular distributions and island community
composition, yet non-vagile terrestrial organisms widely occur on oceanic islands. The …

The resolution of the Tree of Life has accelerated with advances in DNA sequencing
technology. To achieve dense taxon sampling, it is often necessary to obtain DNA from …

Taxonomic identification of archaeological fish bones provides important insights into the
subsistence practices of ancient coastal peoples. However, it can be difficult to execute …