Authors
Blaire Van Valkenburgh
Publication date
2007/7/1
Journal
Integrative and comparative biology
Volume
47
Issue
1
Pages
147-163
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Description
The fossil record of the order Carnivora extends back at least 60 million years and documents a remarkable history of adaptive radiation characterized by the repeated, independent evolution of similar feeding morphologies in distinct clades. Within the order, convergence is apparent in the iterative appearance of a variety of ecomorphs, including cat-like, hyena-like, and wolf-like hypercarnivores, as well as a variety of less carnivorous forms, such as foxes, raccoons, and ursids. The iteration of similar forms has multiple causes. First, there are a limited number of ways to ecologically partition the carnivore niche, and second, the material properties of animal tissues (muscle, skin, bone) have not changed over the Cenozoic. Consequently, similar craniodental adaptations for feeding on different proportions of animal versus plant tissues evolve repeatedly. The extent of convergence in craniodental form can be …
Total citations
200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024155112716223120252330232325352616
Scholar articles