Supertree methods can combine information in phylogenetic trees to yield novel relationships, but matrix representation with parsimony (MRP) supertree methods (Baum, 1992; Regan, 1992) sometimes return supertrees that include relationships that appear to have no support among the input trees, individually or jointly (Bininda-Emonds and Bryant, 1998; Pisani and Wilkinson, 2002; Wilkinson et al., 2004). Assessing the extent to which this might occur in practice requires a clear conception of how a set of input trees may provide support for relationships in supertrees. Bininda-Emonds (2003) broke new ground in presenting the first explicit conceptual analysis and categorization of the kinds of correspondence that can occur between relationships in input trees and supertrees, and he investigated the frequency of unsupported relationships in some real supertrees and with simulations. He reported that unsupported clades were completely absent from the real supertrees and very rare in simulations, suggesting that unsupported groups are unlikely to be a problem for MRP in practice.

Despite considerable advances in knowledge of the anatomy, ecology and evolution of early mammals, far less is known about their physiology. Evidence is contradictory concerning the timing and fossil groups in which mammalian endothermy arose. To determine the state of metabolic evolution in two of the earliest stem-mammals, the Early JurassicMorganucodonandKuehneotherium, we use separate proxies for basal and maximum metabolic rate. Here we report, using synchrotron X-ray tomographic imaging of incremental tooth cementum, that they had maximum lifespans considerably longer than comparably sized living mammals, but similar to those of reptiles, and so they likely had reptilian-level basal metabolic rates. Measurements of femoral nutrient foramina showMorganucodonhad blood flow rates intermediate between living mammals and reptiles, suggesting maximum metabolic rates increased evolutionarily before basal metabolic rates. Stem mammals lacked the elevated endothermic metabolism of living mammals, highlighting the mosaic nature of mammalian physiological evolution.

Black mass is the industry term applied to end-of-life (EoL) lithium-ion batteries that have been mechanically processed for potential use as a recycled material to recover the valuable metals present, including cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel and copper. A significant challenge to the effective processing of black mass is the complexity of the feed material. Two samples of black mass from a European source were analysed using a combination of methods including automated SEM-EDS (AMICS) to characterise and quantify the phases present and particle chemistry. Micro X-CT imaging, overlain onto automated mineralogy images, enabled the 3D morphology of the particles to be determined. Micro-XRF was used to map the copper, nickel, manganese and cobalt-bearing phases. Since Li cannot be detected using SEM-EDS, its abundance was semi-quantified using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The integration of these complimentary analytical methods allowed for detailed phase characterisation, which may guide the potential hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurgical recycling routes and chemical assaying.