Deep time diversity and the early radiations of birds
Abstract
Our lineage diversification rate through time analyses of three supertrees combining the published phylogenies of both stem and crown group birds reveal three distinct large-scale increases in the diversification rate across bird evolutionary history. The first two increases also are associated with rapid morphological evolution pertaining to the locomotory and cranial systems, respectively. The third increase needs further support from morphological data. Our study demonstrates that the bird biodiversity evolution was influenced mainly by long-term climatic changes and also by the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- March 2021
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.2019865118
- Bibcode:
- 2021PNAS..11819865Y