Feeding biomechanics reveals niche differentiation related to insular gigantism.

Insular gigantism is an evolutionary phenomenon whereby small animals become bigger on islands compared to their mainland relatives. The abundance of insular giant taxa in the fossil record suggests the presence of a universal "giant niche" present on islands, with resource limitation as a potential driver for this process. However, insular habitats are ecologically diverse, suggesting that island taxa adopt different survival strategies, including adaptations for foraging behaviors.

Comparative morphology of the dormouse skull and the influence of size and ecology.

Dormice are widely dispersed across various ecosystems in Eurasia and Africa and among the oldest extant rodent lineages. Despite distinct morphological variation to be present between groups, comprehensive morphometrical studies on the dormouse skull are limited. Here, the form of eight out of the nine extant dormouse genera was analysed using 3D geometric morphometrics and linear biomechanical measurements, providing a better understanding of the overall morphological variation present within Gliridae.

Morphological divergence in giant fossil dormice.

Insular gigantism-evolutionary increases in body size from small-bodied mainland ancestors-is a conceptually significant, but poorly studied, evolutionary phenomenon. Gigantism is widespread on Mediterranean islands, particularly among fossil and extant dormice. These include an extant giant population of on Formentera, the giant Balearic genus † and the exceptionally large † of Pleistocene Sicily.