Fig. 2.

Radiation of oribatid mites started early in the Devonian and was accompanied by significant shifts in body size and body form (black and orange arrows on timeline). Lower oribatid mites that evolved in the Devonian likely were small, as body size is phylogenetically conserved in oribatid mites. Different body forms evolved in the Devonian and the Carboniferous into various sizes and in the Triassic. Most shifts in trophic level according to phylogenetic independent contrast (PIC, red arrows) repeatedly occurred since the mid-Cretaceous, with the beginning of the Cenophytic, when angiosperms evolved. Circles on nodes in the phylogeny indicate significant shifts in body size (black), body form (orange) and trophic level (red, see also Fig. 1) and correspond to the arrows on the timeline. Numbers on nodes show the distribution of nodes with taxa known from the fossil record that were used as priors in the molecular clock analysis (1 Hydrozetidae-Limnozetidae, 196–189 mya; 2 Achipteriidae, 145–140 mya; 3 Carabodidae, 122–99 mya; 4 Camisiidae, 85–83 mya; 5 Trhypochthoniidae 122–99 mya; 6–7, Parhyposomata/Enarthronota 336–326 mya; 8 Palaeosomata, 385–374 mya; 9 oribatid mites, 407–385 mya; for details and references see Supplementary information)