The mammalian cranium (skull without lower jaw) is representative of mammalian diversity
and is thus of particular interest to mammalian biologists across disciplines. One widely …

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a powerful quantitative tool that models mechanical
performance in virtual reconstructions of complex structures, such as animal skeletons. The …

Functional trade-offs can affect patterns of morphological and ecological evolution as well as
the magnitude of morphological changes through evolutionary time. Using morpho …

Geometric morphometrics (GM) and finite element analysis (FEA) are increasingly common
techniques for the study of form and function. We show how principles of quantitative …

The Siluro-Devonian adaptive radiation of jawed vertebrates, which underpins almost all
living vertebrate biodiversity, is characterized by the evolutionary innovation of the lower …

Divergent natural selection should lead to adaptive radiation—that is, the rapid evolution of
phenotypic and ecological diversity originating from a single clade. The drivers of adaptive …

Selection for divergent performance optima has been proposed as a central mechanism
underlying adaptive radiation. Uncovering multiple optima requires identifying forms …

Adaptive landscapes have served as fruitful guides to evolutionary research for nearly a
century. Current methods guided by landscape frameworks mostly utilize evolutionary …

High megaherbivore species richness is documented in both fossil and contemporary
ecosystems despite their high individual energy requirements. An extreme example of this is …

The concept of the adaptive landscape has been invaluable to evolutionary biologists for
visualizing the dynamics of selection and adaptation, and is increasingly being used to study …