Rates of Dinosaur Body Mass Evolution Indicate 170 Million Years of Sustained Ecological Innovation on the Avian Stem Lineage

Early dinosaurs showed rapid evolutionary rates, which were sustained on the line leading to birds. Maintenance of evolvability in key lineages might explain the uneven distribution of trait diversity among groups of animal species.

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Benson, Roger B. J., Campione, Nicolás E., Carrano, Matthew T., Mannion, Philip D., Sullivan, Corwin, Upchurch, Paul, Evans, David C.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science 2014
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4011683/