Rate of evolution of hadrosaur teeth and crests

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A new study of the skulls of various hadrosaur genera by scientists from the University of Bristol and the Catalan Institute of Paleontology in Barcelona has determined the rate of evolution of the specialized teeth and head crests of these animals. They found that the specialized feeding apparatus of these dinosaurs evolved quickly in one burst and then remained relatively unchanged throughout the rest of the group's evolution. However, they also found that hadrosaur head crests continued to diversify through several bursts of evolution, suggesting that evolution can be driven in different ways through both natural selection and sexual selection, with hadrosaurs only needing to evolve one form of tooth morphology through natural selection in order to survive but also needing to continually change the morphology of their head crests through sexual selection in order to reproduce successfully. Here is a link to the paper describing this study.


Paper (abstract only): https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/morphological-innovation-and-the-evolution-of-hadrosaurid-dinosaurs/4D62321E0AE849C957D5D37BC052D666

[Neosodon]

Sounds allot like Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge's theory of "punctuated equilibrium." Interesting to see it still playing out in modern paleontology.