Supporting Figures and Tables
Figure S1. Calculation of disparity for a time point on a hypothetical phylogenetic tree. For a
particular time point, corresponding to the date of an interior node, disparity of an ecological
trait is calculated for each existing clade (lineage) as the average Euclidian distance among
the clade members, in regard to the trait(s) under consideration. In the figure, total disparity
at time x, D(tx), is equal to the sum of the disparity values calculated for each of the two
clades existing at time x, Dx, one clade with species 1 and 2 and the other with species 3
through 6, divided by the number of clades, C, which here is two. In a disparity through time
analysis, values of disparity are determined for the date of each node along the phylogeny.
Figure S2.
Figure S2. Cumulative inertia explained by successive ordination axes for the Hill-Smith
ordination of Eltonian variables and the Multiple Correspondence Analysis of the Grinnellian
variables.
Figure S3. Distribution of correlation coefficient values for comparisons among the axes of
different ordinations. In each case, there seems to be no substantial correlation among the
ordinations.
a.
b.
c.
Figure S4. Niche diversification on the maximum likelihood tree of phylogenetic
relationships among 405 avian species of the western Palearctic. Color swaths represent
species scores on the first eigenvector from ordinations of the climatic (red), habitat (blue)
and trophic (green) components of the environmental niche. Species scores on each vector
have been standardized to range from zero (maximum color intensity) to unity (white), and
transformed to approximate a normal distribution. Clustering of color of similar intensity
among closely related terminal nodes (species) indicates similar eigenvector scores, and
suggests the presence of phylogenetic signal, notably in the trophic niche.
Figure S5.
Figure S5. Minimum discrimination index (MDI) scores. These box and whisker plots show
the difference between curve values of observed node-specific disparity and disparity from
Brownian simulations. Observations are MDI scores calculated for the difference between
DDT curves for each of 100 trees and the mean of the corresponding Brownian evolution
simulations. Bars show first quartiles and square points are outlying values.
Table S1. Original variables used in the analyses on niche diversification. With the exception of body mass, all habitat and trophic niche variables
were scored as used (1) or not used (0).
Climate*
Mean temperature
Maximum temperature
Minimum temperature
Temperature coefficient of variation
Mean precipitation
Maximum precipitation
Minimum precipitation
Precipitation coefficient of variation
Habitat
Foraging
Wet grassland, fens, tundra
Dry grassland
Rocky slope
Fast lotic
Still or slow lotic
Near-shore marine
Salt marsh
Mud or silt flat
Sand or gravel beach
Reed marsh
Conifer forest
Deciduous forest
Mixed forest
Mediterranean or oak
Open or low forest
Forest edge
Shrub, bush, brush
Urban
Garden
High air
.
Nesting
Wet grassland, fens, tundra
Dry grassland
Banks of sand or mud
Near water, lakeshore, island
Sand or gravel beach
Reed marsh
Conifer forest
Deciduous forest
Mixed forest
Mediterranean or oak
Open or low forest
Shrub, bush, or brush
Urban
Garden
Rock faces, outcrops, structures
Nest position
(elevated,
hole,
ground)
Trophic
.
Seed, nuts, grain
Frugivory
Vegetative parts
Invertebrates
Fish
Small mammals
Large mammals
Herptiles
Vertebrates (unspec.)
Small birds
Large birds
Large bones
Carrion
Pursuit (air, aquatic)
Sally
Foliage glean
Pounce
Graze
Pick, peck, stab
Dig
Overturn objects
Probe
Water surface
Underwater
Water (unspecified)
Mud
Terrestrial ground
Table S1. cont.
Canopy
Shrub
Vegetation (unspec.)
Air
Nocturnal
Crepuscular
Diurnal
Body mass
Notes: * Climate variables are based on monthly averages during the six-month period, April through September, which are available from the
WorldClim website, http://www.worldclim.org/. These are continuous variables, while all other variables except body weight are scored as Bernoulli
variables. See text for scoring criteria.
Table S2: Percentage of taxa (genera) represented in Genbank for each region included in the
study
Gene regions
12S
28S
ATP6
ATP8
c-mos
c-myc
COI
COII
COIII
Cyt b
ND1
ND2
ND3
ND4
ND5
ND6
RAG1
RAG2
ZENK
% of taxa sampled
63.9
9.6
37.4
27
31.8
34.1
79.6
16.1
21.3
96.7
30.3
82.9
37.9
20.9
31.3
31.3
62.6
17.1
25.1
Table S3: Fossil information and age constraints used in the dating analysis. All the fossils
were used as minimum age constraints except *, which was used as a maximum age
constraint.
Clade
Anseriformes
Ingroup
Apodiformes
Upupidae+ Picidae
Coraciidae+
Meropidae
Pandionidae
Sulidae
Pteroclidae
Rallidae
Scolopaciade
Strigidae
Procellariidae
Sulidae
Burhinidae
Age
66
125*
53
47.5
47.5
37
33
30
33
33
58
23
33
18
Stem/Crown
Stem
Stem
Stem
Stem
Stem
Crown
Stem
Stem
Stem
Stem
Stem
Stem
Stem
Stem
References
Clarke et al. (2005)
Zhou (2004)
Mayr (2003)
Mayr (2000)
Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré
(2000)
Harrison & Walker (1976)
Mayr (2002)
Mourer-Chauviré (1993)
Mayr & Smith (2001)
Olson (1985)
Vickers-Rich & Bohaska
(1976)
Olson (1985)
Mayr (2002)
Bickart (1982)
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