Parallel patterns and trends in functional structures in extinct island mammals.

Endemic mammalian species on islands are generally known to have followed a different evolutionary pathway than their mainland relatives. General patterns, such as body size trends, have been described regularly. However, most island mammal species are unique and each of them is adapted to a specific local niche as part of an equally specific ecological assemblage. Therefore, comparing island species across taxa, islands and time is inherently dangerous without understanding the adaptational value of the studied feature in the compared taxa and without taking the ecological setting of the taxa into account. In this contribution, general and recurring patterns are described per taxon. Some features, like body mass change and sturdy limbs, are relatively general, whereas most features, like bone fusions and change of orbital axis, occur only in a very few taxa. Some features are even contradictory, such as brain size and degree of hypsodonty, with each taxon having its own particular design. In conclusion, general patterns are more often than not just trends and need to be applied with caution.