Spiny-rayed fishes (Acanthomorpha) dominate modern marine habitats and account for more than a quarter of all living vertebrate species. Previous time-calibrated phylogenies and patterns from the fossil record explain this dominance by correlating the origin of major acanthomorph lineages with the Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction. Here we infer a time-calibrated phylogeny using ultraconserved elements that samples 91.4% of all acanthomorph families and investigate patterns of body shape disparity. Our results show that acanthomorph lineages steadily accumulated throughout the Cenozoic and underwent a significant expansion of among-clade morphological disparity several million years after the end-Cretaceous. These acanthomorph lineages radiated into and diversified within distinct regions of morphospace that characterize iconic lineages, including fast-swimming open-ocean predators, laterally compressed reef fishes, bottom-dwelling flatfishes, seahorses and pufferfishes. The evolutionary success of spiny-rayed fishes is the culmination of multiple species-rich and phenotypically disparate lineages independently diversifying across the globe under a wide range of ecological conditions.

刺鱼（Acanthomorpha）在现代海洋栖息地中占主导地位，占所有现存脊椎动物物种的四分之一以上。来自化石记录的先前时间校准的系统发育和模式通过将主要棘形动物谱系的起源与白垩纪 - 古近纪大规模灭绝相关联来解释这种优势。在这里，我们使用超保守元素推断时间校准的系统发育，该元素对所有棘形动物科的 91.4% 进行了采样，并研究了体形差异的模式。我们的研究结果表明，棘形动物谱系在整个新生代稳步积累，并在白垩纪末数百万年后经历了进化枝间形态差异的显着扩大。这些棘形动物谱系辐射到形态空间的不同区域并在其内多样化，这些区域是标志性谱系的特征，包括快速游泳的公海捕食者、侧向压缩的礁鱼、底栖比目鱼、海马和河豚。刺鱼的进化成功是多个物种丰富且表型不同的谱系在广泛的生态条件下在全球范围内独立多样化的高潮。