Why do small animals evolve so slowly?

The mechanisms of evolution have led to the amazing diversity of life we see around us today, but sometimes it works in ways which are unexpected in this episode of Fossil Fix! Music by Kevin McLeoud Support The Channel / dpavitt Socials danepavitt.bsky.social instagram.com/danepavitt/ 00:00 Introduction 00:38 Rates of evolution 01:36 Sleep Or Hide Behaviour 02:53 Extinction trends 03:14 Histology and Triassic Hibernation 04:10 Outro REFERENCES Han, F., Zhao, Q., Liu, J. (2021) ‘Preliminary bone histological analysis of Lystrosaurus (Therapsida: Dicynodontia) from the Lower Triassic of North China, and its implication for lifestyle and environments after the end-Permian extinction.’ PLOS One. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248681 Liow, L.H., Fortelius, M., Lintulaakso, K., Mannila, H., Stenseth, N.C. (2009) ‘Lower Extinction Risk in Sleep-or-Hide Mammals.’ The American Naturalist. Vol 173(2). Available at: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/595756 Liow, L.H., Fortelius, M., Bingham, E., Lintulaakso, K., Mannila, H., Flynn, L., Stenseth, N.C. (2008) ‘Higher origination and extinction rates in larger mammals.’ PNAS. Vol 105(6), pp. 6097-6102. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0709763105 Whitney, M.R. and Sidor, C.A. (2020) ‘Evidence of torpor in the tusks of Lystrosaurus from the Early Triassic of Antarctica.’ Communications Biology. Vol 3(471). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01207-6