BACKGROUND: The lake deposits of the informal Ruby Paper Shale unit, part of the Renova Formation of Montana, have yielded abundant plant fossils that document Late Eocene - Early Oligocene global cooling in western North America. A nearly complete…
Studying ontogeny in both extant and extinct species can unravel the mechanisms underlying mammal diversification and specialization. Among mammalian clades, Cetartiodactyla encompass species with a wide range of adaptations, and ontogenetic evidence…
Recent molecular studies are inconsistent with ungulate phylogenetic trees that are based on morphological traits. These inconsistencies especially relate to the position of cetaceans and perissodactyls. Evaluation of the close phylogenetic ties…
Although the first ten million years of whale evolution are documented by a remarkable series of fossil skeletons, the link to the ancestor of cetaceans has been missing. It was known that whales are related to even-toed ungulates (artiodactyls), but…
The field of evolutionary developmental biology is broadly focused on identifying the genetic and developmental mechanisms underlying morphological diversity. Connecting the genotype with the phenotype means that evo-devo research often considers a…
