One of the great transformations in the history of vertebrates involves the origin and early diversification of the mammals. Mammals are distinguished from other vertebrates by almost countless aspects of their anatomy, physiology, behavior, reproduction, and life history. Many of these features appear to have arisen as an integrated complex during the early evolution of mammals. An exceedingly...

Anurans (frogs and toads) are unique among land vertebrates in possessing a free-living larval stage that, parallel to adult frogs, diversified into an impressive range of ecomorphs. The tempo and mode at which tadpole morphology evolved through anuran history as well as its relationship to lineage diversification remain elusive. We used a molecular phylogenetic framework to examine patterns of...

Triassic tetrapods are of key importance in understanding their evolutionary history, because several tetrapod clades, including most of their modern lineages, first appeared or experienced their initial evolutionary radiation during this Period. In order to test previous palaeobiogeographical hypotheses of Triassic tetrapod faunas, tree reconciliation analyses (TRA) were performed with the aim...

Outcrops of the Lower Triassic (Spathian) Virgin Limestone Member (Moenkopi Formation) in the southwestern United States contain the oldest known metazoan bioherms formed in the aftermath of the endPermian mass extinction. These small buildups, up to 1.0 m in diameter and 0.2 m high, were constructed by cementing bivalves. The bivalve bioherms accreted in a shallow, subtidal environment above s...

We report a new ichthyopterygian assemblage from Lower Triassic horizons of the Prida Formation at Fossil Hill in central Nevada. Although fragmentary, the specimens collected so far document a diverse fauna. One partial jaw exhibits isodont dentition with blunt tipped, mesiodistally compressed crowns and striated enamel. These features are shared with the Early Triassic genus Utatsusaurus know...

Coprolites are the least studied and most under-sampled vertebrate trace fossils. They are very common in some Triassic localities. We recognize six new coprolite ichnotaxa: Alococopros triassicus, A. indicus, Saurocopros bucklandi, Liassococopros hawkinsi, Malericopros matleyi and Falcatocopros oxfordensis. The distribution of coprolite ichnotaxa is: Permian Hyronocopros amphipolar and Heterop...

Phasmatodea species diversity lies almost entirely within its suborder Euphasmatodea, which exhibits a pantropical distribution and is considered to derive from recent rapid evolutionary radiation. To shed light on Euphasmatodea origins diversification, we assembled the mitogenomes of 17 transcriptomic sequencing data analysed them along with 22 already available 33 representing most Polyneopte...