Reply to: Revisiting life history and morphological proxies for early mammaliaform metabolic rates

In an article examining the physiology of Early Jurassic mammaliaform stem-mammals, we used proxies for basal and maximum metabolic rate, providing evidence that two key fossil mammaliaforms had metabolic rates closer to modern reptiles than modern mammals. Meiri and Levin questioned the use of our proxy for basal metabolic rate – terrestrial species maximum lifespan in the wild. Here, we explore the evidence behind these differences in viewpoint, and rebut specific points raised by these authors.