Links to Articles

The Tree-Thinking Challenge

David A. Baum, Stacey DeWitt Smith, Samuel S. S. Donovan;
Science 11, November 2005

This article is an excellent way to acquaint yourself with phylogenetic trees (trees that reflect evolutionary relationships).

Tree-Thinking Quiz

David A. Baum, Stacey DeWitt Smith, Samuel S. Donovan;
Science 11, November 2005

This has two quizzes. The first uses simple trees to help teach you how to interpret trees. The second uses more complicated trees that have been published in Science.

Palaeontology: Turning over a new leaf

Paul Kenrick;
Nature 410, 15 March 2001

This is a summary of Beerling et al.'s paper hyposthesizing that a drop in carbon dioxide spurred the evolution of the megaphyll.

Evolution of leaf-form in land plants linked to atmospheric CO2 decline in the Late Palaeozoic era

D.J. Beerling, C.P. Osborne and W.G. Chaloner;
Nature 410, 15 March 2001

This is the full, original paper which is described by Kenrick (see link above).