During the evolutionary history of mammals, the correlation of their dental and limb bone adaptations and body size to vegetation and climate have changed over millions of years. Today human activities have further changed climate, vegetation and biodiversity in a way that has simplified these ecological interconnections. In this research project we explore how the distribution of dental and limb bone adaptations, body size and diet of large herbivorous mammals are correlated with changes in vegetation and climate in time bins of a few million years during the last 65 million years in Europe, Africa and South America. This is achieved by comparing the mammalian traits with proxies of vegetation and climate, such as plant fossil records and stable isotope records at different times. Ultimately, this approach will inform us on how the correlations of mammalian trait distribution with vegetation and climate have changed through time on different continents, and through human influence.

2021

2026