Insights from macroevolutionary modelling and ancestral state reconstruction into the radiation and historical dietary ecology of Lemuriformes (Primates, Mammalia).

Background: Lemurs once rivalled the diversity of rest of the primate order despite thier confinement to the island of Madagascar. We test the adaptive radiation model of Malagasy lemur diversity using a novel combination of phylogenetic comparative methods and geometric methods for quantifying tooth shape.

Results: We apply macroevolutionary model fitting approaches and disparity through time analysis to dental topography metrics associated with dietary adaptation, an aspect of mammalian ecology which appears to be closely related to diversification in many clades.