The integration of phylogenetics, phylogeography and palaeoenvironmental studies is
providing major insights into the historical forces that have shaped the Earth's biomes. Yet …

The south‐western land division of Western Australia (SWWA), bordering the temperate
Southern and Indian Oceans, is the only global biodiversity hotspot recognised in Australia …

Background The extant squamates (> 9400 known species of lizards and snakes) are one of
the most diverse and conspicuous radiations of terrestrial vertebrates, but no studies have …

Abstract George Gaylord Simpson famously postulated that much of life's diversity originated
as adaptive radiations—more or less simultaneous divergences of numerous lines from a …

Why does a trait evolve repeatedly within a clade? When examining the evolution of a trait,
evolutionary biologists typically focus on the selective advantages it may confer and the …

Geckos are the only major lizard group consisting mostly of nocturnal species. Nocturnality
is presumed to have evolved early in gecko evolution and geckos possess numerous …

Abstract Geckos in the Western Hemisphere provide an excellent model to study faunal
assembly at a continental scale. We generated a time‐calibrated phylogeny, including …

A phylogeny of tetrapods is inferred from nearly complete sequences of the nuclear RAG-1
gene sampled across 88 taxa encompassing all major clades, analyzed via parsimony and …

The disparity in species richness among groups of organisms is one of the most pervasive
features of life on earth. A number of studies have addressed this pattern across higher taxa …

Animal taxa show remarkable variability in species richness across phylogenetic groups.
Most explanations for this disparity postulate that taxa with more species have phenotypes …