How exceptional are the classic adaptive radiations of passerine birds?

ABSTRACT: We investigated whether celebrated cases of evolutionary radiations of passerine birds on islands have produced exceptional morphological diversity relative to comparable-aged radiations globally. Based on eight external measurements, we calculated the disparity in size and shape within clades, each of which was classified as being tropical or temperate and as having diversified in a continental or an island/archipelagic setting. We found that the distribution of disparity among all clades does not differ substantively from a normal distribution, which would be consistent with a common underlying process of morphological diversification that is largely independent of latitude and occurrence on islands. Disparity is slightly greater in island clades than in those from continents or clades c

SUBMITTER: Miles DB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10469319 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature