scholarly journals Functional coupling in the evolution of suction feeding and gill ventilation of sculpins (Perciformes: Cottoidei)

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 394-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
S C Farina ◽  
M L Knope ◽  
K A Corn ◽  
A P Summers ◽  
W E Bemis
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Generalized Least Squares ◽  
Morphological Integration ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Suction Feeding ◽  
Linear Measurements ◽  
Morphological Diversification ◽  
Gill Ventilation

Abstract Suction feeding and gill ventilation in teleosts are functionally coupled, meaning that there is an overlap in the structures involved with both functions. Functional coupling is one type of morphological integration, a term that broadly refers to any covariation, correlation, or coordination among structures. Suction feeding and gill ventilation exhibit other types of morphological integration, including functional coordination (a tendency of structures to work together to perform a function) and evolutionary integration (a tendency of structures to covary in size or shape across evolutionary history). Functional coupling, functional coordination, and evolutionary integration have each been proposed to limit morphological diversification to some extent. Yet teleosts show extraordinary cranial diversity, suggesting that there are mechanisms within some teleost clades that promote morphological diversification, even within the highly integrated suction feeding and gill ventilatory systems. To investigate this, we quantified evolutionary integration among four mechanical units associated with suction feeding and gill ventilation in a diverse clade of benthic, primarily suction-feeding fishes (Cottoidei; sculpins and relatives). We reconstructed cottoid phylogeny using molecular data from 108 species, and obtained 24 linear measurements of four mechanical units (jaws, hyoid, opercular bones, and branchiostegal rays) from micro-CT reconstructions of 44 cottoids and 1 outgroup taxon. We tested for evolutionary correlation and covariation among the four mechanical units using phylogenetically corrected principal component analysis to reduce the dimensionality of measurements for each unit, followed by correlating phylogenetically independent contrasts and computing phylogenetic generalized least squares models from the first principle component axis of each of the four mechanical units. The jaws, opercular bones, and branchiostegal rays show evolutionary integration, but the hyoid is not positively integrated with these units. To examine these results in an ecomorphological context, we used published ecological data in phylogenetic ANOVA models to demonstrate that the jaw is larger in fishes that eat elusive or grasping prey (e.g., prey that can easily escape or cling to the substrate) and that the hyoid is smaller in intertidal and hypoxia-tolerant sculpins. Within Cottoidei, the relatively independent evolution of the hyoid likely has reduced limitations on morphological evolution within the highly morphologically integrated suction feeding and gill ventilatory systems.

scholarly journals The effects of phylogeny, body size, and locomotor behavior on the three-dimensional shape of the pelvis in extant carnivorans

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi L. Lewton ◽  
Ryan Brankovic ◽  
William A. Byrd ◽  
Daniela Cruz ◽  
Jocelyn Morales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Shape Change ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Generalized Least Squares ◽  
Locomotor Behavior ◽  
Morphological Integration ◽  
3D Analysis ◽  
Pelvic Shape ◽  
Locomotor Behaviors

The mammalian pelvis is thought to exhibit adaptations to the functional demands of locomotor behaviors. Previous work in primates has identified form-function relationships between pelvic shape and locomotor behavior; few studies have documented such relationships in carnivorans, instead focusing on long bones. Most work on the functional morphology of the carnivoran pelvis, in particular, has used univariate measures, with only a few previous studies incorporating a three-dimensional (3D) analysis. Here we test the hypothesis that carnivoran taxa that are characterized by different locomotor modes also differ in 3D shape of the os coxae. Using 3D geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods, we evaluate the phylogenetic, functional, and size-related effects on 3D pelvis shape in a sample of 33 species of carnivorans. Using surface models derived from laser scans, we collected a suite of landmarks (N = 24) and curve semilandmarks (N = 147). Principal component analysis on Procrustes coordinates demonstrates patterns of shape change in the ischiopubis and ilium likely related to allometry. Phylogenetic generalized least squares analysis on principal component scores demonstrates that phylogeny and body size have greater effects on pelvic shape than locomotor function. Our results corroborate recent research finding little evidence of locomotor specialization in the pelvis of carnivorans. More research on pelvic morphological integration and evolvability is necessary to understand the factors driving pelvic evolution in carnivorans.

scholarly journals Angular and linear measurements of adult flexible flatfoot via weight-bearing CT scans and 3D bone reconstruction tools

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Ortolani ◽  
Alberto Leardini ◽  
Chiara Pavani ◽  
Silvia Scicolone ◽  
Mauro Girolami ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Weight Bearing ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Longitudinal Axis ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Shape Reconstruction ◽  
Skeletal Structure ◽  
Foot Deformities ◽  
Foot And Ankle ◽  
Linear Measurements

AbstractAcquired adult flatfoot is a frequent deformity which implies multiple, complex and combined 3D modifications of the foot skeletal structure. The difficult thorough evaluation of the degree of severity pre-op and the corresponding assessment post-op can now be overcome by cone-beam (CBCT) technology, which can provide access to the 3D skeletal structure in weight-bearing. This study aims to report flatfoot deformities originally in 3D and in weight-bearing, with measurements taken using two different bone segmentation techniques. 21 such patients, with indication for surgical corrections, underwent CBCT (Carestream, US) while standing on one leg. From these scans, 3D models of each bone of the foot were reconstructed by using two different state-of-the-art segmentation tools: a semi-automatic (Mimics Innovation Suite, Materialise, Belgium), and an automatic (Bonelogic Ortho Foot and Ankle, Disior, Finland). From both reconstructed models, Principal Component Analysis was used to define anatomical reference frames, and original foot and ankle angles and other parameters were calculated mostly based on the longitudinal axis of the bones, in anatomical plane projections and in 3D. Both bone model reconstructions revealed a considerable valgus of the calcareous, plantarflexion and internal rotation of the talus, and typical Meary’s angles in the lateral and transverse plane projections. The mean difference from these angles between semi-automatic and automatic segmentations was larger than 3.5 degrees for only 3 of the 32 measurements, and a large number of these differences were not statistically significant. CBCT and the present techniques for bone shape reconstruction finally provide a novel and valuable 3D assessment of complex foot deformities in weight-bearing, eliminating previous limitations associated to unloaded feet and bidimensional measures. Corresponding measurements on the bone models from the two segmentation tools compared well. Other more representative measurements can be defined in the future using CBCT and these techniques.

Warning signals promote morphological diversification in fossorial uropeltid snakes (Squamata: Uropeltidae)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivek Philip Cyriac ◽  
Ullasa Kodandaramaiah
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Free Space ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Environmental Constraints ◽  
Shape Evolution ◽  
Head Shape ◽  
Warning Signals ◽  
Morphological Diversification ◽  
Niche Expansion ◽  
Antipredator Defences

Abstract Many species possess warning colourations that signal unprofitability to predators. Warning colourations are also thought to provide prey with a ‘predator-free space’ and promote niche expansion. However, how such strategies release a species from environmental constraints and facilitate niche expansion is not clearly understood. Fossoriality in reptiles imposes several morphological limits on head and body size to facilitate burrowing underground, but many fossorial snakes live close to the surface and occasionally move above ground, exposing them to predators. In such cases, evolving antipredator defences that reduce predation on the surface could potentially relax the morphological constraints associated with fossoriality and promote morphological diversification. Fossorial uropeltid snakes possess varying degrees of conspicuous warning colourations that reduce avian predation when active above ground. We predicted that species with more conspicuous colourations will exhibit more robust body forms and show faster rates of morphological evolution because constraints imposed by fossoriality are relaxed. Using a comparative phylogenetic approach on the genus Uropeltis, we show that more conspicuous species tend to have more robust morphologies and have faster rates of head-shape evolution. Overall, we find that the evolution of warning colourations in Uropeltis can facilitate niche expansion by influencing rates of morphological diversification.

scholarly journals Do Coral Reefs Promote Morphological Diversification? Exploration of Habitat Effects on Labrid Pharyngeal Jaw Evolution in the Era of Big Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 696-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kory M Evans ◽  
Keiffer L Williams ◽  
Mark W Westneat
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Shape Evolution ◽  
Micro Computed Tomography ◽  
Functional Variation ◽  
Morphological Diversification ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Pharyngeal Jaw

Abstract Coral reefs are complex marine habitats that have been hypothesized to facilitate functional specialization and increased rates of functional and morphological evolution. Wrasses (Labridae: Percomorpha) in particular, have diversified extensively in these coral reef environments and have evolved adaptations to further exploit reef-specific resources. Prior studies have found that reef-dwelling wrasses exhibit higher rates of functional evolution, leading to higher functional variation than in non-reef dwelling wrasses. Here, we examine this hypothesis in the lower pharyngeal tooth plate of 134 species of reef and non-reef-associated labrid fishes using high-resolution morphological data in the form of micro-computed tomography scans and employing three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to quantify shape differences. We find that reef-dwelling wrasses do not differ from non-reef-associated wrasses in morphological disparity or rates of shape evolution. However, we find that some reef-associated species (e.g., parrotfishes and tubelips) exhibit elevated rates of pharyngeal jaw shape evolution and have colonized unique regions of morphospace. These results suggest that while coral reef association may provide the opportunity for specialization and morphological diversification, species must still be able to capitalize on the ecological opportunities to invade novel niche space, and that these novel invasions may prompt rapid rates of morphological evolution in the associated traits that allow them to capitalize on new resources.

scholarly journals Bayesian principal component analysis of Nigerian indigenous normal feather chickens' body linear measurements

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20
Author(s):  
A. E. Sonubi ◽  
A. S. Adenaike ◽  
A. A. Dauda ◽  
T. P. Alao ◽  
B. O. Shonubi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Principal Components ◽  
Body Shape ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Component Analysis ◽  
Body Measurements ◽  
Indigenous Chicken ◽  
Body Dimension ◽  
Linear Measurements

The indigenous chicken is a store house of unique genes that could be used in other parts of the world for improving other breeds. This study was carried out using bayesian principal component analysis and aimed objectively at determining the effect of sex on Nigerian indigenous normal feather chickens' body dimension, describing their body shape, and predicting their body weights from body measurements using orthogonal conformation traits derived from the principal components score. The parameters measured at 16 weeks of age were body weight, body length, breast girth, thigh length, shank length, shank diameter, keel length, wing length, wing span, and tail length on 233 randomly selected adult chickens. Sexual dimorphism was observed in all the traits with higher values recorded for males. Bayesian correlations among body weight and biometric traits were positive (r = 0.09 to 0.651 and 0.017 to 0.579 in male and female chickens respectively). The descriptive statistics showed that the mean body weight was 1.8085 ± 0.263 kg for males and 1.403 ± 0.226 kg for females. The first two principal components (PCs) were extracted for the males, both PCs components account for 72.21%. For the females, three PCs were extracted and they account for 77%. The first PC in each case accounted for the greatest percentage of the total variation. The use of orthogonal body shape characteristics derived from components' scores was more appropriate than the use of original traits in body weight prediction as multi-collinearity problems were eliminated. This led to simultaneous analysis of these body measurements rather than on individual basis. These components could be used as selection criteria for improving body weight of indigenous Nigerian chickens.

scholarly journals The Development of Integration in Marsupial and Placental Limbs

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E M Kelly ◽  
J D Marcot ◽  
L Selwood ◽  
K E Sears
Keyword(s):  
Limb Development ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Morphological Integration ◽  
Individual Element ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Mammalian Development ◽  
Developmental Factors ◽  
Hind Limbs ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Important Branch

Abstract The morphological interdependence of traits, or their integration, is commonly thought to influence their evolution. As such, study of morphological integration and the factors responsible for its generation form an important branch of the field of morphological evolution. However, most research to date on post-cranial morphological integration has focused on adult patterns of integration. This study investigates patterns of correlation (i.e., morphological integration) among skeletal elements of the fore- and hind limbs of developing marsupial and placental mammals. The goals of this study are to establish how patterns of limb integration vary over development in marsupials and placentals, and identify factors that are likely responsible for their generation. Our results indicate that although the overall pattern of correlation among limb elements is consistent with adult integration throughout mammalian development, correlations vary at the level of the individual element and stage. As a result, the relative integration among fore- and hind limb elements varies dynamically between stages during development in both marsupial and placental mammals. Therefore, adult integration studies of the limbs may not be indicative of developmental integration. Results are also consistent with integration during early limb development being more heavily influenced by genetic and developmental factors, and later by function. Additionally, results are generally consistent with a constraint on marsupial forelimb evolution caused by the functional requirements of the crawl to the teat that operates by limiting morphological variation before and at the time of birth, and not after.

scholarly journals On the lack of a universal pattern associated with mammalian domestication: differences in skull growth trajectories across phylogeny

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. 170876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra ◽  
Valentina Segura ◽  
Madeleine Geiger ◽  
Laura Heck ◽  
Kristof Veitschegger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Postnatal Growth ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Allometric Growth ◽  
Linear Measurements ◽  
Global Pattern ◽  
Morphological Diversification ◽  
Skull Shape ◽  
Skull Growth ◽  
Universal Pattern

As shown in a taxonomically broad study, domestication modifies postnatal growth. Skull shape across 1128 individuals was characterized by 14 linear measurements, comparing 13 pairs of wild versus domesticated forms. Among wild forms, the boar, the rabbit and the wolf have the highest proportion of allometric growth, explaining in part the great morphological diversity of the domesticated forms of these species. Wild forms exhibit more isometric growth than their domesticated counterparts. Multivariate comparisons show that dogs and llamas exhibit the greatest amount of differences in trajectories with their wild counterparts. The least amount is recorded in the pig–boar, and camel and horse pairs. Bivariate analyses reveal that most domesticated forms have growth trajectories different from their respective wild counterparts with regard to the slopes. In pigs and camels slopes are shared and intercepts are different. There is a trajectory extension in most domesticated herbivores and the contrary pattern in carnivorous forms. However, there is no single, universal and global pattern of paedomorphosis or any other kind of heterochrony behind the morphological diversification that accompanies domestication.

Comparison of five allopatric fruit fly parasitoid populations (Psyttalia species) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from coffee fields using morphometric and molecular methods

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.K. Billah ◽  
S.W. Kimani-Njogu ◽  
R.A. Wharton ◽  
J.B. Woolley ◽  
D. Masiga
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Genetic Distances ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Aflp Data ◽  
Wing Vein ◽  
Coffee Plantations ◽  
Psyttalia Concolor ◽  
Shimba Hills

AbstractMorphometric studies of five allopatric parasitoid populations (genus Psyttalia Walker) from coffee plantations in Cameroon (Nkolbisson), Ghana (Tafo) and Kenya (Rurima, Ruiru and Shimba Hills) and one non-coffee population (from Muhaka, Kenya) were compared with individuals of Psyttalia concolor (Szépligeti), a species released in several biological control programmes in the Mediterranean Region since the 20th Century. Analyses of wing vein measurements showed the second submarginal cell of the fore wing and its adjoining veins had the heaviest principal component weights and served as the main contributing variables in the diagnostic differentiation of the populations. Two populations (Rurima and Ruiru) were found to be the closest to each other and with the strongest phenetic affinity toward P. concolor (and forming one cluster). Populations from Shimba Hills (of unknown identity), Nkolbisson (P. perproximus (Silvestri)) and Tafo formed a second cluster and were separated from P. concolor. Comparison using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) also showed the Shimba, Nkolbisson and Tafo populations forming a cluster in a dendrogram generated from their genetic distances, with the Shimba and Tafo populations placed as the most closely related species. Based on consistent morphological similarities, morphometric and ecological data coupled with the genetic evidence from AFLP data, the Shimba population is suggested as belonging to the P. perproximus group and, thus, represents a new occurrence record in Kenya. Our results also support earlier conclusion from cross mating data that populations from Rurima and Ruiru belong to the Psyttalia concolor species-group.

scholarly journals Arboreality constrains morphological evolution but not species diversification in vipers

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1869) ◽  
pp. 20171775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Rodrigues Vieira de Alencar ◽  
Marcio Martins ◽  
Gustavo Burin ◽  
Tiago Bosisio Quental
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Trait Evolution ◽  
Morphological Diversification ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Speciation Rates ◽  
Slender Bodies ◽  
Morphological Variants ◽  
Arboreal Snakes

An increase in ecological opportunities, either through changes in the environment or acquisition of new traits, is frequently associated with an increase in species and morphological diversification. However, it is possible that certain ecological settings might prevent lineages from diversifying. Arboreality evolved multiple times in vipers, making them ideal organisms for exploring how potentially new ecological opportunities affect their morphology and speciation regimes. Arboreal snakes are frequently suggested to have a very specialized morphology, and being too large, too small, too heavy, or having short tails might be challenging for them. Using trait-evolution models, we show that arboreal vipers are evolving towards intermediate body sizes, with longer tails and more slender bodies than terrestrial vipers. Arboreality strongly constrains body size and circumference evolution in vipers, while terrestrial lineages are evolving towards a broader range of morphological variants. Trait-dependent diversification models, however, suggest similar speciation rates between microhabitats. Thus, we show that arboreality might constrain morphological evolution but not necessarily affect the rates at which lineages generate new species.

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