niche

“If Homo erectus ate considerably more animal foods than Paranthropus boisei, that alone would guarantee rather different niches,” Sponheimer told Salon in a phone interview.

The picture all but disappeared in the decades following its initial release; its placement on Ovid is a comforting reminder of the particular niche that services like this can fill.

Species most likely to go extinct sooner were endemic to islands, lacked the ability to fly, had larger bodies and sharply angled wings, and occupied ecologically specific niches, according to research published this month.

But within a mere 30 million years, dinosaurs around the globe took over the niches formerly occupied by rivals.

It is the culmination of a long-running legal dispute which started with a relatively niche piece of legislation at the Scottish Parliament, but which could have big UK-wide implications.