The total-evidence approach to divergence time dating uses molecular and morphological
data from extant and fossil species to infer phylogenetic relationships, species divergence …

Dating the tree of life is a core endeavor in evolutionary biology. Rates of evolution are
fundamental to nearly every evolutionary model and process. Rates need dates. There is …

New Zealand, long recognised as a land where birds dominate the terrestrial vertebrate
biota, lacked an informative fossil record for the non-marine pre-Pleistocene avifauna until …

The emergence of islands has been linked to spectacular radiations of diverse organisms.
Although penguins spend much of their lives at sea, they rely on land for nesting, and a high …

The dominant consumers in today's ocean ecosystems are marine mammals, including
cetaceans, sirenians, and pinnipeds, and other marine carnivorans. The ecological …

Despite its current low diversity, the penguin clade (Sphenisciformes) is one of the groups of
birds with the most complete fossil record. Likewise, from the evolutionary point of view, it is …

The patella is a sesamoid bone located in the major extensor tendon of the knee joint, in the
hindlimb of many tetrapods. Although numerous aspects of knee morphology are ancient …

Many animals extract, synthesize and refine chemicals for colour display, where a range of
compounds and structures can produce a diverse colour palette. Feather colours, for …

Despite longstanding interest in convergent evolution, factors that result in deviations from
fully convergent phenotypes remain poorly understood. In birds, the evolution of flightless …

New Zealand is a globally significant hotspot for seabird diversity, but the sparse fossil
record for most seabird lineages has impeded our understanding of how and when this …