Convergent evolution is a central concept in evolutionary theory but the underlying
mechanism has been largely debated since On the Origin of Species. Previous hypotheses …

The mammalian neck adopts a variety of postures during daily life and generates numerous
head trajectories. Despite its functional diversity, the neck is constrained to seven cervical …

Complexity, defined as the number of parts and their degree of differentiation, is a poorly
explored aspect of macroevolutionary dynamics. The maximum anatomical complexity of …

Sauropterygia, a successful clade of marine reptiles abundant in aquatic ecosystems of the
Mesozoic, inhabited nearshore to pelagic habitats over> 180 million years of evolutionary …

Species richness is strikingly uneven across taxonomic groups at all hierarchical levels, but
the reasons for this heterogeneity are poorly understood. It is well established that …

The concept of evolvability—the capacity of a population to produce and maintain
evolutionarily relevant variation—has become increasingly prominent in evolutionary …

Organisms comprise multiple interacting parts, but few quantitative studies have analysed
multi-element systems, limiting understanding of phenotypic evolution. We investigate how …

Polycotylidae is a clade of plesiosaurians that appeared during the Early Cretaceous and
became speciose and abundant early in the Late Cretaceous. However, this radiation is …

Background The origin of birds from non-avian theropod dinosaur ancestors required a
comprehensive restructuring of the body plan to enable the evolution of powered flight. One …

Throughout their evolution, tetrapods have repeatedly colonised a series of ecological
niches in marine ecosystems, producing textbook examples of convergent evolution …