Table 2.

Times of first instantiation of repeated innovations

Innovation	Time	Ref.
Fixation of CO2 into organic compounds	Before 3.5 Ga	17
Nitrogen fixation	3.5 Ma	37
Aerobic respiration	2.7 Ma	17
Multicellularity	1.7 Ga	38, 39
Plant apical growth	650 Ma or earlier	23
Animal coloniality	550 Ma	40–42
Mineralized skeleton	550	13, 43
Planktotrophic larvae	550 Ma	44
Secondary symbiosis between plastids and eukaryotes	550 Ma	18, 45
Venom injection	540 Ma	1
Animal muscularized appendages	540 Ma	12
Molluscan operculum	520 Ma	46
Image-forming eyes	520 Ma	30, 47
Bivalved accretionary shell	520 Ma	46, 48
Arthropod conglobation	490 Ma	49
Gastropod siphonal indentation	450 Ma	46
Vertebrate teeth	435 Ma	50
Vertebrate mineralized endoskeleton	430 Ma	51
Plant vascular structure	435 Ma	52
Cemented bivalved shell	400 Ma	53
Arthropod silk production	390 Ma	54, 55
Plant differentiated megaspores	390 Ma	56
Plant leaves	390 Ma	57, 58
Trees and secondary growth	390 Ma	59
Insect stylet	390 Ma	60
Tetrapod ear	370 Ma	30, 61, 62
Land-plant vines	300 Ma	63, 64
Network leaf venation	300 Ma	57, 65, 66
C4 photosynthesis by land plants	300 Ma	30, 67
Insect asynchronous flight muscules	300 Ma	31
Tetrapod jaw propaliny	290 Ma	68
Tetrapod bipedalism	290 Ma	69
Tetrapod turbinates	260 Ma	70
Tetrapod secondary palate	260 Ma	70
Vertebrate gliding	260 Ma	71
Vertebrate endothermy	225 Ma	70
Tetrapod fully erect posture	225 Ma	72
Tetrapod wings	225 Ma	1
Crustacean crab form	180 Ma	73, 74
Mammalian middle earbones	180 Ma	75–77
Animal eusociality	125 Ma	78
Plant heat production	125 Ma	79
Plant alkaloids	125 Ma	80
Vertebrate placenta	125 Ma	30
Plant basal growth	90 Ma	1
Free-floating aquatic multicellular plants	80 Ma	1
Gastropod labral tooth	80 Ma	14
Excretion of molecular oxygen by fishes	80 Ma	81
Stereoscopic vision in tetrapods	80 Ma	82
Electrical sensation by fishes	80 Ma	30
Mammalian hypsodonty	60 Ma	83
Crab heterochely	60 Ma	49
Burrowing ratchet sculpture in bivalves	55 Ma	84
Sand-dollar eccentricity	10 Ma	85