In the past two decades, studies of anatomy, behavior, and, most recently, DNA sequences have clarified the phylogeny of the ants at the subfamily and generic levels. In addition, a rich new harvest of Cretaceous and Paleogene fossils has helped to date the major evolutionary radiations. We collate this information and then add data from the natural history of the modern fauna to sketch a histo...

The rise of angiosperms has been regarded as a trigger for the Cretaceous revolution of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the timeframe of the rise angiosperm-dominated herbaceous floras (ADHFs) is lacking. Here, we used the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) as a proxy to provide insights into the rise of ADHFs. An integration of phylogenetic, molecular dating, ancestral state inferring, and dive...

Modern amphibians (lissamphibians) are highly sensitive indicators of environmental disturbance. As such, fossil lissamphibians are an excellent model for testing causal hypotheses of the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction and secondary effects of Deccan volcanism and a bolide impact (e.g., acid rain). We quantitatively analyzed high-resolution temporal changes in diversity and community stru...

Meredith et al. (Reports, 28 October 2011, p. 521) question three findings of our delayed-rise hypothesis for present-day mammals made with reference to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (KPg) boundary, based on their new time tree of the group. We show that their own data do not support their objections and that the macroevolutionary patterns from the respective phylogenies are not statistically differ...

The Zagros orogeny in Iran is associated with two successive geodynamic events during the Tertiary period, a Paleogene NE-directed regional crustal extension followed by a Miocene NW-directed regional crustal extension and a magmatic flare-up. The current study was undertaken to reanalyze previous structural work developed on the extensional Chapedony metamorphic core complex in Central Iran ex...

—The late Paleocene-early Eocene transition was characterized by a long period of global warming that culminated with the highest temperatures of the Cenozoic. This interval is associated with a significant increase in plant diversity in temperate latitudes. However, data from tropical regions remain largely unknown. The record of pollen and spore diversity across the late Paleocene to the earl...

The Pricaspian Depression in the southeast of the East European Platform is one of the deepest depressions formed over the Baikal folded basement. The sedimentary cover consists of four structural levels corresponding to the major stages of its formation. The Riphean and the Vendian beds constitute the first structural level. The second one comprises deposits from the Devonian to the Upper Tria...

Given the Indian block’s ancient association with Gondwana and subsequent separation from Africa, then Madagascar, Seychelles, vicariance has often been invoked to explain distribution of some India’s extant biota that might have had Gondwanan origins. Here I review phylogenetic studies fossil data tetrapods ascertain contribution dispersal in shaping assemblage. Paleogene into India accounts f...

O'Leary et al. (Research Article, 8 February 2013, p. 662) examined mammalian relationships and divergence times and concluded that a single placental ancestor crossed the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. This conclusion relies on phylogenetic analyses that fail to discriminate between homology and homoplasy and further implies virus-like rates of nucleotide substitution in early Paleocene...