Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Nudds RL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1810057 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Nudds R L RL Dyke G J GJ Rayner J M V JM
Proceedings. Biological sciences 20040801
Analysis of a comprehensive dataset demonstrates that the brachial index (BI = humerus length/ulna length) of modern birds (Neornithes) varies significantly between clades at all taxonomic levels, yet is strongly correlated with recent phylogenetic hypotheses. Variance in BI at the infraclass level is low, but increases rapidly during the proposed major radiation of neornithines in the Palaeocene and Eocene. Although a BI of greater than 1 is primitive for Neornithes, more basal groups of Mesozo ...[more]