Fig. 4. Geological timeline comparing the divergence time estimates for Phylliidae in relation to the angiosperm radiation.

Green confidence interval bars are given for each study that estimated a divergence time for leaf insects; hexagonal shapes are depicted when the estimated age is referring to the divergence from the phylliid sister taxon. The radiation of eudicot angiosperm is hypothesised to have started in the Early/Mid Cretaceous^{54–57, 60} with extant lineages having become abundant until the Late Cretaceous. Dominance over gymnosperms and ferns was probably achieved during the period from the Late Cretaceous to the Early Cenozoic^{53, 56} with subsequent emergence of angiosperm-dominated rain forests. FC fossil calibration (†Eophyllium messelense), RC root calibration (Euphasmatodea).