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The repeated return of tetrapods to aquatic life provides some of the best-known examples of convergent evolution. One comparison that has received relatively little focus is that of mosasaurids (a group of Late Cretaceous squamates) and archaic cetaceans (the ancestors of modern whales and dolphins), both of which show high levels of craniodental disparity, similar initial trends in locomotory evolution, and global distributions. Here we investigate convergence in skull ecomorphology during the initial aquatic radiations of these groups. A series of functionally informative ratios were calculated from 38 species, with ordination techniques used to reconstruct patterns of functional ecomorphospace occupation. The earliest fully aquatic members of each clade occupied different regions of ecomorphospace, with basilosaurids and early russellosaurines exhibiting marked differences in cranial functional morphology. Subsequent ecomorphological trajectories notably diverge: mosasaurids radiated across ecomorphospace with no clear pattern and numerous reversals, whereas cetaceans notably evolved toward shallower, more elongated snouts, perhaps as an adaptation for capturing smaller prey. Incomplete convergence between the two groups is present among megapredatory and longirostrine forms, suggesting stronger selection on cranial function in these two ecomorphologies. Our study highlights both the similarities and divergences in craniodental evolutionary trajectories between archaic cetaceans and mosasaurids, with convergences transcending their deeply divergent phylogenetic affinities.
This book presents a wide range of new research on many aspects of naval strategy in the early modern and modern periods. Among the themes covered are the problems of naval manpower, the nature of naval leadership and naval officers, intelligence, naval training and education, and strategic thinking and planning. The book is notable for giving extensive consideration to navies other than those ofBritain, its empire and the United States. It explores a number of fascinating subjects including how financial difficulties frustrated the attempts by Louis XIV's ministers to build a strong navy; how the absence of centralised power in the Dutch Republic had important consequences for Dutch naval power; how Hitler's relationship with his admirals severely affected German naval strategy during the Second World War; and many more besides. The book is a Festschrift in honour of John B. Hattendorf, for more than thirty years Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History at the US Naval War College and an influential figure in naval affairs worldwide.
N.A.M. Rodger is Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford.
J. Ross Dancy is Assistant Professor of Military History at Sam Houston State University.
Benjamin Darnell is a D.Phil. candidate at New College, Oxford.
Evan Wilson is Caird Senior Research Fellow at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
Contributors: Tim Benbow, Peter John Brobst, Jaap R. Bruijn, Olivier Chaline, J. Ross Dancy, Benjamin Darnell, James Goldrick, Agustín Guimerá, Paul Kennedy, Keizo Kitagawa, Roger Knight, Andrew D. Lambert, George C. Peden, Carla Rahn Phillips, Werner Rahn, Paul M. Ramsey, Duncan Redford, N.A.M. Rodger, Jakob Seerup, Matthew S. Seligmann, Geoffrey Till, Evan Wilson