Fig. 6: Ecological entrenchment illustrated using morphospace occupation through time.
From: Niche partitioning shaped herbivore macroevolution through the early Mesozoic
Two main patterns of ecological entrenchment observed within early Mesozoic herbivores: a The increasing specialisation of taxa concentrates diversification at the peripheries of morphospace, leading to the hollowing out of total morphospace occupation (as shown here in dicynodonts). b A unidirectional shift showing clear specialisation towards a specific eco-morphology (as shown here in procolophonoids). Morphospace areas from each epoch are shown in isolation and overlaid over each other to highlight the shifts through time. Epochs: EJ Early Jurassic, ET Early Triassic, LT Late Triassic, MT Middle Triassic, All silhouettes created by S.S., but some are vectorised from artwork by Felipe Alves Elias (https://www.paleozoobr.com/) and Jeff Martz (United States National Park Service), available for academic use with attribution.
