Modularity is now generally recognized as a fundamental feature of organisms, one that may
have profound consequences for evolution. Modularity has recently become a major focus of …

Phenotypic integration and modularity are ubiquitous features of complex organisms,
describing the magnitude and pattern of relationships among biological traits. A key …

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 …

The origin of phenotypic diversity among higher clades is one of the most fundamental
topics in evolutionary biology. However, due to methodological challenges, few studies have …

The field of comparative morphology has entered a new phase with the rapid generation of
high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) data. With freely available 3D data of thousands of …

The study of modularity is paramount for understanding trends of phenotypic evolution, and
for determining the extent to which covariation patterns are conserved across taxa and …

Advances in imaging technologies, such as computed tomography (CT) and surface
scanning, have facilitated the rapid generation of large datasets of high-resolution three …

Phenotypic variation across mammals is extensive and reflects their ecological
diversification into a remarkable range of habitats on every continent and in every ocean …

Evolutionary innovations are scattered throughout the tree of life, and have allowed the
organisms that possess them to occupy novel adaptive zones. While the impacts of these …

Factors intrinsic and extrinsic to organisms dictate the course of morphological evolution but
are seldom considered together in comparative analyses. Among vertebrates, squamates …