Dinosaur phylogeny showing nodes with exceptional rates of body size evolution. Exceptional nodes are numbered and indicated by green filled circles with diameter proportional to their down-weighting in robust regression analyses. The sizes of shapes at tree tips are proportional to log₁₀(mass), and silhouettes are indicative of approximate relative size within some clades. The result from one tree calibrated to stratigraphy by imposing a minimum branch duration of 1 Ma is shown; other trees and calibration methods retrieve similar results.

Benson RBJ, Campione NE, Carrano MT, Mannion PD, Sullivan C, Upchurch P, et al. (2014) Rates of Dinosaur Body Mass Evolution Indicate 170 Million Years of Sustained Ecological Innovation on the Avian Stem Lineage. PLoS Biol 12(5): e1001853.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001853