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The feature model is one of the most important artifact of a Software Product Line (SPL). It is built in the early stages of SPL development and describes the main features and relationships. The feature model evolves according to the evolution of the SPL. Thus, it is important to build maintainable feature models. In this scenario, measures have been proven useful in the maintainability evaluation of the feature models. This paper presents an exploratory study on the impact of feature models maintainability over the SPL evolution process. In order to support this analysis, we built a dataset containing a compiled set of 21 maintainability structural measures extracted from 16 feature models and respective versions. Although not conclusive, our findings indicate that the feature models maintainability tends to decrease as it evolves. We also identified the most common changes performed in a feature model during its …