Avian diversification has been influenced by global climate change, plate tectonic
movements, and mass extinction events. However, the impact of these factors on the …

The extant diversity of the avian clade Palaeognathae is composed of the iconic flightless
ratites (ostriches, rheas, kiwi, emus, and cassowaries), and the volant tinamous of Central …

Our understanding of the earliest stages of crown bird evolution is hindered by an
exceedingly sparse avian fossil record from the Mesozoic era. The most ancient …

It has long been appreciated that analyses of genomic data (eg, whole genome sequencing
or sequence capture) have the potential to reveal the tree of life, but it remains challenging …

A clade's evolutionary history is shaped, in part, by geographical range expansion,
sweepstakes dispersal and local extinction. A rigorous understanding of historical …

Reconstructing relationships among extant birds (Neornithes) has been one of the most
difficult problems in phylogenetics, and, despite intensive effort, the avian tree of life remains …

Fossils are the only remaining evidence of the majority of species that have ever existed,
providing a direct window into events in evolutionary history that shaped the diversification …

Through elasmobranch (sharks and rays) evolutionary history, gigantism evolved multiple
times in phylogenetically distant species, some of which are now extinct. Interestingly, the …

Many higher level avian clades are restricted to Earth's lower latitudes, leading to historical
biogeographic reconstructions favoring a Gondwanan origin of crown birds and numerous …

This chapter will cover clade definitions, the relationships within clades as well as the
occasional controversial relationships between different clades. Phylogenies arising from a …