Rcodes and additional results from identifying trait-associated diversification with fossil phylogenies

There is solid theoretical reasoning but few statistical approaches available to test the hypothesis that phenotypic traits and phenotypic evolutionary rates could be associated to rates of taxonomic diversification. A positive relationship between phenotypic and taxonomic evolution is expected to occur during adaptive radiations, or when the acquisition of key innovations allows rapid expansion into new adaptive zones. Such patterns of trait-associated diversification are intensely studied under both neontological and paleontological approaches. However, albeit the inclusion of fossil information is welcome, paleontological studies often lack the phylogenetic dimension, which makes the results potentially depending on untested phylogenetic effects. We devised and applied a novel method seeking to find instances of trait-associated diversification, which is specifically meant to make full use of fossil phenotypes and phylogenies. We performed extensive simulations to test the power of t...