Simpson, G. G. Major Features of Evolution (Columbia Univ. Press, 1953).
Simpson, G. G. Tempo and Mode in Evolution (Columbia Univ. Press, 1944).
Vermeij, G. J. Adaptation, versatility, and evolution. Syst. Zool. 22, 466–477 (1973).
Dumont, E. R. et al. Morphological innovation, diversification and invasion of a new adaptive zone. Proc. R. Soc. B 279, 1797–1805 (2012).
Hunter, J. P. & Jernvall, J. The hypocone as a key innovation in mammalian evolution. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 92, 10718–10722 (1995).
Mitter, C., Farrell, B. & Wiegmann, B. The phylogenetic study of adaptive zones: has phytophagy promoted insect diversification? Am. Nat. 132, 107–128 (1988).
Liem, K. F. Evolutionary strategies and morphological innovations: cichlid pharyngeal jaws. Syst. Zool. 22, 425–441 (1973).
Van Valkenburgh, B. Déjà vu: the evolution of feeding morphologies in the Carnivora. Integr. Comp. Biol. 47, 147–163 (2007).
Martin, L. D. In Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution (ed Gittleman, J. L.) 536–568 (Cornell Univ. Press, 1989).
Werdelin, L. In Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution (ed Gittleman, J. L.) 582–624 (Cornell Univ. Press, 1996).
Polly, P. D. In Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology (eds Sargis, E. J. & Dagosto, M.) 167–196 (Springer, 2008).
Slater, G. J. Topographically distinct adaptive landscapes for teeth, skeletons, and size explain the adaptive radiation of Carnivora (Mammalia). Evolution 76, 2049–2066 (2022).
Tseng, Z. J. Testing adaptive hypotheses of convergence with functional landscapes: a case study of bone-cracking hypercarnivores. PLOS ONE 8, e65305 (2013).
Balisi, M. A. & Van Valkenburgh, B. Iterative evolution of large-bodied hypercarnivory in canids benefits species but not clades. Commun. Biol. 3, 461 (2020).
Rasmussen, G. S. A., Gusset, M., Courchamp, F. & Macdonald, D. W. Achilles’ heel of sociality revealed by energetic poverty trap in cursorial hunters. Am. Nat. 172, 508–518 (2008).
Holliday, J. A. & Steppan, S. J. Evolution of hypercarnivory: the effect of specialization on morphological and taxonomic diversity. Paleobiology 30, 108–128 (2004).
Van Valkenburgh, B., Wang, X. & Damuth, J. Cope’s rule, hypercarnivory, and extinction in North American canids. Science 306, 101–104 (2004).
Barrett, P. Z., Hopkins, S. S. B. & Price, S. A. How many sabretooths? Reevaluating the number of carnivoran sabretooth lineages with total-evidence Bayesian techniques and a novel origin of the Miocene Nimravidae. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 41, e1923523 (2021).
Coca-Ortega, C. & Pérez-Claros, J. A. Characterizing ecomorphological patterns in hyenids: a multivariate approach using postcanine dentition. PeerJ 6, e6238 (2019).
Tarquini, S. D., Chemisquy, M. A. & Prevosti, F. J. Evolution of the carnassial in living mammalian carnivores (Carnivora, Didelphimorphia, Dasyuromorphia): diet, phylogeny, and allometry. J. Mamm. Evol. 27, 95–109 (2020).
Hansen, T. F. Stabilizing selection and the comparative analysis of adaptation. Evolution 51, 1341–1351 (1997).
McNab, B. K. The influence of food habits on the energetics of eutherian mammals. Ecol. Monogr. 56, 1–19 (1986).
Friscia, A. R., Van Valkenburgh, B. & Biknevicius, A. R. An ecomorphological analysis of extant small carnivorans. J. Zool. 272, 82–100 (2007).
Sacco, T. & Van Valkenburgh, B. Ecomorphological indicators of feeding behaviour in the bears (Carnivora: Ursidae). J. Zool. 263, 41–54 (2004).
Van Valkenburgh, B. & Koepfli, K.-P. Cranial and dental adaptations to predation in canids. Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond. 65, 15–37 (1993).
Van Valkenburgh, B. Iterative evolution of hypercarnivory in canids (Mammalia: Carnivora): evolutionary interactions among sympatric predators. Paleobiology 17, 340–362 (1991).
Meachen-Samuels, J. & Van Valkenburgh, B. Craniodental indicators of prey size preference in the Felidae. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 96, 784–799 (2009).
Hopkins, S. S. B., Price, S. A. & Chiono, A. J. Influence of phylogeny on the estimation of diet from dental morphology in the Carnivora. Paleobiology 48, 324–339 (2022).
Waldman, E., Gonzalez, Y., Flynn, J. J. & Tseng, Z. J. Dental topographic proxies for ecological characteristics in carnivoran mammals. J. Anat. 242, 627–641 (2023).
Pineda-Munoz, S., Lazagabaster, I. A., Alroy, J. & Evans, A. R. Inferring diet from dental morphology in terrestrial mammals. Methods Ecol. Evol. 8, 481–491 (2017).
Barrett, P. Z. & Hopkins, S. S. B. Adaptive zones of feliforms and evolutionary regimes within terrestrial mammalian carnivores. figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30689975 (2026).
Slater, G. J., Harmon, L. J. & Alfaro, M. E. Integrating fossils with molecular phylogenies improves inference of trait evolution. Evolution 66, 3931–3944 (2012).
Harmon, L. J. et al. Early bursts of body size and shape evolution are rare in comparative data. Evolution 64, 2385–2396 (2010).
Slater, G. J. Iterative adaptive radiations of fossil canids show no evidence for diversity-dependent trait evolution. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 4897–4902 (2015).
Barrett, P. Z. & Hopkins, S. S. B. Mosaic evolution underlies feliform morphological disparity. Proc. R. Soc. B 291, 20240756 (2024).
Slater, G. J. & Friscia, A. R. Hierarchy in adaptive radiation: a case study using the Carnivora (Mammalia). Evolution 73, 524–539 (2019).
Carbone, C., Teacher, A. & Rowcliffe, J. M. The costs of carnivory. PLOS Biol. 5, 363–368 (2007).
Carbone, C., Mace, G. M., Roberts, S. C. & Macdonald, D. W. Energetic constraints on the diet of terrestrial carnivores. Nature 402, 286–288 (1999).
Van Valen, L. A new evolutionary law. Evol. Theory 1, 1–30 (1973).
Figueirido, B. et al. Constraint and adaptation in the evolution of carnivoran skull shape. Paleobiology 37, 490–518 (2011).
Andersson, K. I. Elbow-joint morphology as a guide to forearm function and foraging behaviour in mammalian carnivores. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 142, 91–104 (2004).
Andersson, K. & Werdelin, L. The evolution of cursorial carnivores in the Tertiary: implications of elbow-joint morphology. Proc. R. Soc. B 270, S163–S165 (2003).
Meachen-Samuels, J. & van Valkenburgh, B. Forelimb indicators of prey-size preference in the felidae. J. Morphol. 270, 729–744 (2009).
Figueirido, B., Martín-Serra, A., Tseng, Z. J. & Janis, C. M. Habitat changes and changing predatory habits in North American fossil canids. Nat. Commun. 6, 7976 (2015).
Fabre, A. C. et al. Getting a grip on the evolution of grasping in musteloid carnivorans: a three-dimensional analysis of forelimb shape. J. Evol. Biol. 26, 1521–1535 (2013).
Slater, G. J., Dumont, E. R. & Van Valkenburgh, B. Implications of predatory specialization for cranial form and function in canids. J. Zool. 278, 181–188 (2009).
Tseng, Z. & Wang, X. Do convergent ecomorphs evolve through convergent morphological pathways? Cranial shape evolution in fossil hyaenids and borophagine canids (Carnivora, Mammalia). Paleobiology 37, 470–489 (2011).
Figueirido, B., Tseng, Z. J. & Martín-Serra, A. Skull shape evolution in durophagous carnivorans. Evolution 67, 1975–1993 (2013).
Tseng, Z. J. Connecting Hunter–Schreger Band microstructure to enamel microwear features: new insights from durophagous carnivores. Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 57, 473–484 (2012).
Penrose, F., Kemp, G. J. & Jeffery, N. Scaling and accommodation of jaw adductor muscles in Canidae. Anat. Rec. 299, 951–966 (2016).
Werdelin, L., Yamaguchi, N., Johnson, W. E. & O’Brien, S. J. In Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids (eds Macdonald, D. W. & Loveridge, A. J.) 59–82 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010).
Salesa, M. J., Gamarra, Je., Siliceo, G., Antón, M. & Morales, J. Unraveling the diversity of early felines: a new genus of Felinae (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Middle Miocene of Madrid (Spain). J. Vertebr. Paleontol. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2288924 (2023).
Robles, J. M. et al. New Pseudaelurus and Styriofelis remains (Carnivora: Felidae) from the Middle Miocene of Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin). C. R. Palevol. 12, 101–113 (2013).
Poust, A. W., Barrett, P. Z. & Tomiya, S. An early nimravid from California and the rise of hypercarnivorous mammals after the middle Eocene climatic optimum. Biol. Lett. 18, 20220291 (2022).
Hawkins, C. E. & Racey, P. A. Food habits of an endangered Carnivore, Cryptoprocta ferox, in the dry deciduous forests of western Madagascar. J. Mammal. 89, 64 (2008).
Sunquist, M. & Sunquist, F. Wild Cats of the World (Univ. Chicago Press, 2002).
Christiansen, P. Evolutionary convergence of primitive sabertooth craniomandibular morphology: the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) and Paramachairodus ogygia compared. J. Mamm. Evol. 15, 155–179 (2008).
Law, C. J. et al. Effects of diet on cranial morphology and biting ability in musteloid mammals. J. Evol. Biol. 31, 1918–1931 (2018).
Slater, G. J. & Van Valkenburgh, B. Allometry and performance: the evolution of skull form and function in felids. J. Evol. Biol. 22, 2278–2287 (2009).
Chatar, N., Fischer, V. & Tseng, Z. J. Many-to-one function of cat-like mandibles highlights a continuum of sabre-tooth adaptations. Proc. R. Soc. B 289, 20221627 (2022).
Chatar, N., Michaud, M., Tamagnini, D. & Fischer, V. Evolutionary patterns of cat-like carnivorans unveil drivers of the sabertooth morphology. Curr. Biol. 34, 2460–2473 (2024).
Figueirido, B., Tucker, S. & Lautenschlager, S. Comparing cranial biomechanics between Barbourofelis fricki and Smilodon fatalis: is there a universal killing-bite among saber-toothed predators? Anat. Rec. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25451 (2024).
Price, S. A. & Hopkins, S. S. B. The macroevolutionary relationship between diet and body mass across mammals. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 115, 173–184 (2015).
Christiansen, P. What size were Arctodus simus and Ursus spelaeus (Carnivora: Ursidae)?. Ann. Zool. Fennici 36, 93–102 (1999).
Soibelzon, L. H. & Schubert, B. W. The largest known bear, Arctotherium angustidens, from the early pLeistocene Pampean region of Argentina: with a discussion of size and diet trends in bears. J. Paleontol. 85, 69–75 (2011).
Sorkin, B. Ecomorphology of the giant bear-dogs Amphicyon and Ischyrocyon. Hist. Biol. 18, 375–388 (2006).
Peigné, S., Salesa, M. J., Antón, M. & Morales, J. A new amphicyonine (Carnivora: Amphicyonidae) from the Upper Miocene of Batallones-1 Madrid, Spain. Palaeontology 51, 943–965 (2008).
Morales, J., Abella, J., Sanisidro, O. & Valenciano, A. Ammitocyon kainos gen. et sp. nov., a chimerical amphicyonid (Mammalia, Carnivora) from the late Miocene carnivore traps of Cerro de los Batallones (Madrid, Spain). J. Syst. Palaeontol. 19, 393–415 (2021).
Morales, J. & Pickford, M. Carnivores from the middle Miocene Ngorora formation (13-12 MA), Kenya. Estud. Geol. 61, 271–284 (2005).
Morlo, M. et al. The apex of amphicyonid hypercarnivory: solving the riddle of Agnotherium antiquum Kaup, 1833 (Mammalia, Carnivora). J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 39, e1705848 (2019).
Müller, N. F. & Bouckaert, R. R. Adaptive metropolis-coupled MCMC for BEAST 2. PeerJ 8, e9473 (2020).
Bouckaert, R. et al. BEAST 2: a software platform for Bayesian evolutionary analysis. PLOS Comput. Biol. 10, e1003537 (2014).
Stadler, T., Künert, D., Bonhoeffer, S. & Drummond, A. J. Birth-death skyline plot reveals temporal changes of epidemic spread in HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 228–233 (2013).
Gavryushkina, A., Welch, D., Stadler, T. & Drummond, A. J. Bayesian inference of sampled ancestor trees for epidemiology and fossil calibration. PLOS Comput. Biol. 10, e1003919 (2014).
Jones, K. E. et al. PanTHERIA: a species-level database of life history, ecology, and geography of extant and recently extinct mammals. Ecology 90, 2648–2648 (2009).
Van Valkenburgh, B. In Body Size in Mammalian Paleobiology: Estimation and Biological Implications (eds Damuth, J. & MacFadden, B. J.) 181–205 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990).
Werdelin, L. & Solounias, N. The Hyaenidae: taxonomy, systematics and evolution. Fossils Strata 30, 104 (1991).
Christiansen, P. & Harris, J. M. Body size of Smilodon (Mammalia: Felidae). J. Morphol. 266, 369–384 (2005).
Wheeler, H. T. & Jefferson, G. T. Panthera atrox: body proportions, size, sexual dimorphism, and behavior of the cursorial lion of the North American Plains. Mus. North. Ariz. Bull. 65, 423–444 (2009).
Palmqvist, P. et al. The giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris: modelling the bone-cracking behavior of an extinct carnivore. Quat. Int. 243, 61–79 (2011).
Venables, W. N. & Ripley, B. D. Modern Applied Statistics with S (Springer, 2002).
R Core Team R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing (R Core Team, 2020).
Wilman, H. et al. EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world’s birds and mammals. Ecology 95, 2027 (2014).
Pérez-Claros, J. A. An ecomorphological characterization of the percrocutoid hyaenids: a multivariate approach using postcanine dentition. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 42, e2197972 (2022).
Pennell, M. W. et al. Geiger v2.0: an expanded suite of methods for fitting macroevolutionary models to phylogenetic trees. Bioinformatics 30, 2216–2218 (2014).
Clavel, J., Escarguel, G. & Merceron, G. mvMORPH: an R package for fitting multivariate evolutionary models to morphometric data. Methods Ecol. Evol. 6, 1311–1319 (2015).
Beaulieu, J. M., Jhwueng, D. C., Boettiger, C. & O’Meara, B. C. Modeling stabilizing selection: expanding the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model of adaptive evolution. Evolution 66, 2369–2383 (2012).
Barrett, P. Data from: Mosaic evolution underlies feliform morphological disparity. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11221809 (2024).
Revell, L. J. phytools: An R package for phylogenetic comparative biology (and other things). Methods Ecol. Evol. 3, 217–223 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2011.00169.x (2012).