These phylogenetic spindle diagrams were plotted using my R package paleoDiv (https://doi.org/10.32614/CRAN.package.paleoDiv), with some occasional light edits in Inkscape, and are based on occurrence and taxonomic data from the paleobiology database. Keep in mind that these datasets are largely unedited (except for very glaring inaccuracies), and reflect a biased and incomplete fossil (and database) record, so take care to interpret them accordingly. Feel free to make use of these charts in your presentations or lectures, or to install paleoDiv yourself and give it a try!
Looking for a particular diagram (e.g., a particular selection of taxa or a focus on a specific time period) not already on this page? You can familiarize yourself with how to use paleoDiv to make your own, or request a chart (if I find the time I’ll be happy to generate it for you).
Diversity trends (estimated via shareholder quorum subsampling, divDyn R package, Kocsis et al. 2019, Methods Ecol. Evol.) of various vertebrate groups through deep time. Inset shows major extant radiations also shown below. Also available as a poster (PDF, A2). Note that the monophyly of some included taxa (such as Parareptilia, Palaeonisciformes, Tristichopteridae) is has come under increased scrutiny, and they might represent paraphyletic grades with respect to the adjacent taxa (e.g. Sauropterygia might represent a grade of stem-turtles). These taxonomic groups are visualized as clades here for ease of visualization.
Diversity trends (estimated via shareholder quorum subsampling, divDyn R package, Kocsis et al. 2019, Methods Ecol. Evol.) among major vertebrate total groups with extant members. Purely extinct lineages outside the labelled radiations (e.g. Lepospondyli, Parareptilia) are omitted, but extinct lineages within clades (e.g. Stereospondyli, Ornithischia) are included in their diversity. Also available as a printable version (PDF, A4).
Diversity trends (estimated via shareholder quorum subsampling, divDyn R package, Kocsis et al. 2019, Methods Ecol. Evol.) among major early-branching groups of vertebrates, with a focus on the stem-lineage of Gnathostomata, including both jawed ("olacoderm") and jawless ("ostracoderm") members. Also available as a printable version (PDF, A4).
Diversity trends among major groups of Chondrichthyans. Also available as a poster (PDF, A4).
Diversity trends among Temnospondyli and other non-amniote Tetrapods in the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic
Diversity trends among Permian and Mesozoic marine reptiles
Overview of major mesozoic archosaur groups, with a focus on the diversity of non-avian dinosaurs (traditional/Ornithischia-Saurischia model of phylogenetic relations). Also available as a printable version (PDF, A4).
Major groups of saurischian dinosaurs.
Phylogeny and diversity of sauropodomorph dinosaurs.
Phylogeny and diversity of coelurosaurian theropods.
Phylogeny and diversity of ornithurine birds, including phylopic silhouettes (attribution: see chart). Also available as a printable version (PDF, A4).
Major monophyletic groups of ornithischian dinosaurs.
More detailed phylogeny of ornithischia representing some traditional paraphyletic groupings (e.g. basal ornithopods="hypsilophodonts", basal iguanodontians="iguanodonts") as spindles for illustrative purposes.
Diversity and phylogeny of basal (non-Mammaliaform) Synapsids of the Carboniferous to Triassic.
Diversity and phylogeny of mesozoic mammaliaforms, including stem-mammals and stem-therians.
Diversity and phylogeny of crown-group mammals. Also available as a printable version (PDF, A4).
Diversity and phylogeny of Ferae: i.e. Carnivorans and relatives, including the extinct non-monophyletic "creodonts". Also available as a printable version (PDF, A4 page width).