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Measey GJ, Rebelo AD, Herrel A, Vanhooydonck B, Tolley KA. Diet, morphology and performance in two chameleon morphs: do harder bites equate with harder prey? J Zool (1987) 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00861.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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27
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Ide C, De Schepper N, Christiaens J, Van Liefferinge C, Herrel A, Goemans G, Meire P, Belpaire C, Geeraerts C, Adriaens D. Bimodality in head shape in European eel. J Zool (1987) 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00834.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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28
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Van Wassenbergh S, Roos G, Aerts P, Herrel A, Adriaens D. Why the long face? A comparative study of feeding kinematics of two pipefishes with different snout lengths. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2011; 78:1786-1798. [PMID: 21651528 DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.02991.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
This study showed that the mouth of Doryrhamphus dactyliophorus, a species with a relatively long snout, travels a greater distance compared with Doryrhamphus melanopleura, a species with a considerably shorter snout, allowing it to strike at prey that are farther away from the mouth. The long-snouted species also tended to reach significantly higher linear velocities of the mouth approaching the prey. On the other hand, D. melanopleura needed less time to capture its prey. A striking difference in prey-capture success was observed between species: D. melanopleura and D. dactyliophorus had a prey-capture success of 91 and 31%, respectively. The small prey size and the relatively large distance between eyes and prey are potential reasons why directing the mouth accurately to the prey is difficult in D. dactyliophorus, hence possibly explaining the lower prey-capture success in this long-snouted species.
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van der Meijden A, Herrel A, Summers A. Comparison of chela size and pincer force in scorpions; getting a first grip. J Zool (1987) 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00628.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Campàs O, Mallarino R, Herrel A, Abzhanov A, Brenner MP. Scaling and shear transformations capture beak shape variation in Darwin's finches. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010; 107:3356-60. [PMID: 20160106 PMCID: PMC2840476 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0911575107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolution by natural selection has resulted in a remarkable diversity of organism morphologies that has long fascinated scientists and served to establish the first relations among species. Despite the essential role of morphology as a phenotype of species, there is not yet a formal, mathematical scheme to quantify morphological phenotype and relate it to both the genotype and the underlying developmental genetics. Herein we demonstrate that the morphological diversity in the beaks of Darwin's Finches is quantitatively accounted for by the mathematical group of affine transformations. Specifically, we show that all beak shapes of Ground Finches (genus Geospiza) are related by scaling transformations (a subgroup of the affine group), and the same relationship holds true for all the beak shapes of Tree, Cocos, and Warbler Finches (three distinct genera). This analysis shows that the beak shapes within each of these groups differ only by their scales, such as length and depth, which are genetically controlled by Bmp4 and Calmodulin. By measuring Bmp4 expression in the beak primordia of the species in the genus Geospiza, we provide a quantitative map between beak morphology and the expression levels of Bmp4. The complete morphological variation within the beaks of Darwin's finches can be explained by extending the scaling transformations to the entire affine group, by including shear transformations. Altogether our results suggest that the mathematical theory of groups can help decode morphological variation, and points to a potentially hierarchical structure of morphological diversity and the underlying developmental processes.
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Ross CF, Baden AL, Georgi J, Herrel A, Metzger KA, Reed DA, Schaerlaeken V, Wolff MS. Chewing variation in lepidosaurs and primates. J Exp Biol 2010; 213:572-84. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.036822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Mammals chew more rhythmically than lepidosaurs. The research presented here evaluated possible reasons for this difference in relation to differences between lepidosaurs and mammals in sensorimotor systems. Variance in the absolute and relative durations of the phases of the gape cycle was calculated from kinematic data from four species of primates and eight species of lepidosaurs. The primates exhibit less variance in the duration of the gape cycle than in the durations of the four phases making up the gape cycle. This suggests that increases in the durations of some gape cycle phases are accompanied by decreases in others. Similar effects are much less pronounced in the lepidosaurs. In addition, the primates show isometric changes in gape cycle phase durations, i.e. the relative durations of the phases of the gape cycle change little with increasing cycle time. In contrast, in the lepidosaurs variance in total gape cycle duration is associated with increases in the proportion of the cycle made up by the slow open phase. We hypothesize that in mammals the central nervous system includes a representation of the optimal chew cycle duration maintained using afferent feedback about the ongoing state of the chew cycle. The differences between lepidosaurs and primates do not lie in the nature of the sensory information collected and its feedback to the feeding system, but rather the processing of that information by the CNS and its use feed-forward for modulating jaw movements and gape cycle phase durations during chewing.
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Dumont ER, Herrel A, MedellÃn RA, Vargas-Contreras JA, Santana SE. Built to bite: cranial design and function in the wrinkle-faced bat. J Zool (1987) 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00618.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Huyghe K, Husak JF, Herrel A, Tadić Z, Moore IT, Van Damme R, Vanhooydonck B. Relationships between hormones, physiological performance and immunocompetence in a color-polymorphic lizard species, Podarcis melisellensis. Horm Behav 2009; 55:488-94. [PMID: 19265697 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2008] [Revised: 02/11/2009] [Accepted: 02/16/2009] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Species with alternative phenotypes offer unique opportunities to investigate hormone-behavior relationships. We investigated the relationships between testosterone, corticosterone, morphology, performance, and immunity in a population of lizards (Podarcis melisellensis) which exhibits a color polymorphism. Males occur in three different color morphs (white, yellow, orange), providing an opportunity to test the idea of morphs being alternative solutions to the evolutionary challenges posed on the link between hormones, morphology, performance, and immunity. Morphs differed in bite force capacity, with orange males biting harder, and in corticosterone levels, with yellow males having lower levels than orange. However, morphs did not differ in testosterone levels or in the immunological parameters tested. At the individual level, across morphs, testosterone levels predicted size-corrected bite force capacity, but no relation was found between hormone levels and immunity. Our results do not support the testosterone-based polymorphism hypothesis and reject the hypothesis of a trade-off between testosterone and immunity in this species, but provide a mechanistic link between testosterone and a sexually selected performance trait.
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Castilla AM, Herrel A, Gosá A. Mainland versus island differences in behaviour ofPodarcislizards confronted with dangerous prey: the scorpionButhus occitanus. J NAT HIST 2008. [DOI: 10.1080/00222930802254763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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35
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Montuelle S, Herrel A, Reveret L, Libourel P, Bels V. Prey-prehension modes in Gerrhosaurus major: Integration of the locomotor apparatus and trophic system. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2008.04.182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Herrel A, Vanhooydonck B, Huyghe K, Van Damme R, Irschick D. 13.1. Rapid evolutionary divergence in feeding mechanics after the colonization of new environments in lizards. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2007.06.131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Huyghe K, Vanhooydonck B, Herrel A, Tadic Z, Van Damme R. Morphology, performance, behavior and ecology of three color morphs in males of the lizard Podarcis melisellensis. Integr Comp Biol 2007; 47:211-20. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icm043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Vincent SE, Herrel A. Functional and ecological correlates of ecologically-based dimorphisms in squamate reptiles. Integr Comp Biol 2007; 47:172-88. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icm019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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39
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Herrel A, James RS, Van Damme R. Fightversusflight: physiological basis for temperature-dependent behavioral shifts in lizards. J Exp Biol 2007; 210:1762-7. [PMID: 17488939 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.003426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYPrevious studies have demonstrated that a behavioral shift from flight to aggressive behavior occurs at low temperatures in some lizards. Our data for the agamid lizard Trapelus pallida demonstrate how the effect of temperature on whole organism performance traits such as sprint speed (much lower performance at lower temperature) and bite force (largely independent of temperature) may explain the shift from flight to fight behavior with decreasing temperature. Moreover, our data hint at the physiological basis for this effect as isolated muscle power output, twitch and tetanus time traits,relevant to sprinting, appear to be strongly temperature-dependent muscle properties. Maximal muscle force production, on the other hand, appears largely independent of temperature. Unexpectedly, differences in the physiological properties of jaw versus limb muscle were observed that enhance the ability of the jaw muscle to generate maximal force at all temperatures tested. Thus our data show how behavioral responses may be determined by the limitations set by temperature on physiological processes.
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Herrel A, Schaerlaeken V, Meyers JJ, Metzger KA, Ross CF. The evolution of cranial design and performance in squamates: Consequences of skull-bone reduction on feeding behavior. Integr Comp Biol 2007; 47:107-17. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icm014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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41
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Ross CF, Eckhardt A, Herrel A, Hylander WL, Metzger KA, Schaerlaeken V, Washington RL, Williams SH. Modulation of intra-oral processing in mammals and lepidosaurs. Integr Comp Biol 2007; 47:118-36. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icm044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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42
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Herrel A, Vanhooydonck B, Irschick D. Morphological and biomechanical correlates of differences in arboreal locomotor performance and substrate use in Anolis lizards. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2007.01.286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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43
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Vincent SE, Dang PD, Herrel A, Kley NJ. Morphological integration and adaptation in the snake feeding system: a comparative phylogenetic study. J Evol Biol 2006; 19:1545-54. [PMID: 16910984 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01126.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
A long-standing hypothesis for the adaptive radiation of macrostomatan snakes is that their enlarged gape--compared to both lizards and basal snakes--enables them to consume "large" prey. At first glance, this hypothesis seems plausible, or even likely, given the wealth of studies showing a tight match between maximum consumed prey mass and head size in snakes. However, this hypothesis has never been tested within a comparative framework. We address this issue here by testing this hypothesis in 12 monophyletic clades of macrostomatan snakes using recently published phylogenies, published maximum consumed prey mass data and morphological measurements taken from a large sample of museum specimens. Our nonphylogenetically corrected analysis shows that head width--independent of body size--is significantly related to mean maximum consumed prey mass among these clades, and this relationship becomes even more significant when phylogeny is taken into account. Therefore, these data do support the hypothesis that head shape is adapted to prey size in snakes. Additionally, we calculated a phylogenetically corrected morphological variance-covariance matrix to examine the role of morphological integration during head shape evolution in snakes. This matrix shows that head width strongly covaries with both jaw length and out-lever length of the lower jaw. As a result, selection on head width will likely be associated with concomitant changes in jaw length and lower jaw out-lever length in snakes.
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Vincent SE, Moon BR, Shine R, Herrel A. The functional meaning of “prey size” in water snakes (Nerodia fasciata, Colubridae). Oecologia 2005; 147:204-11. [PMID: 16237539 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-005-0258-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2005] [Accepted: 08/30/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The evolutionary success of macrostomatan (enlarged-gape) snakes has been attributed to their ability to consume large prey, in turn made possible by their highly kinetic skulls. However, prey can be "large" in several ways, and we have little insight into which aspects of prey size and shape affect skull function during feeding. We used X-ray videos of broad-banded water snakes (Nerodia fasciata) feeding on both frogs and fish to quantify movements of the jaw elements during prey transport, and of the anterior vertebral column during post-cranial swallowing. In a sample of additional individuals feeding on both frogs and fish, we measured the time and the number of jaw protractions needed to transport prey through the buccal cavity. Prey type (fish vs. frog) did not influence transport kinematics, but did influence transport performance. Furthermore, wider and taller prey induced greater movements of most cranial elements, but wider prey were transported with significantly less anterior vertebral bending. In the performance trials, heavier, shorter, and wider prey took significantly more time and a greater number of jaw protractions to ingest. Thus, the functional challenges involved in prey transport depend not only upon prey mass, but also prey type (fish vs. frog) and prey shape (relative height, width and length), suggesting that from the perspective of a gape-limited predator, the difficulty of prey ingestion depends upon multiple aspects of prey size.
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Herrel A, Podos J, Huber SK, Hendry AP. Evolution of bite force in Darwin's finches: a key role for head width. J Evol Biol 2005; 18:669-75. [PMID: 15842496 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00857.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Studies of Darwin's finches of the Galapagos Islands have provided pivotal insights into the interplay of ecological variation, natural selection, and morphological evolution. Here we document, across nine Darwin's finch species, correlations between morphological variation and bite force capacity. We find that bite force correlates strongly with beak depth and width but only weakly or not at all with beak length, a result that is consistent with prior demonstrations of natural selection on finch beak morphology. We also find that bite force is predicted even more strongly by head width, which exceeds all beak dimensions in predictive strength. To explain this result we suggest that head width determines the maximum size, and thus maximum force generation capacity of finch jaw adductor muscles. We suggest that head width is functionally relevant and may be a previously unrecognized locus of natural selection in these birds, because of its close relationship to bite force capacity.
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Abstract
Feeding specializations such as herbivory are an often cited example of convergent and adaptive evolution. However, some groups such as lizards appear constrained in the evolution of morphological specializations associated with specialized diets. Here we examine whether the inclusion of plant matter into the diet of omnivorous lacertid lizards has resulted in morphological specializations and whether these specializations reflect biomechanical compromises as expected if omnivores are constrained by functional trade-offs. We examined external head shape, skull shape, tooth structure, intestinal tract length and bite performance as previous studies have suggested correlations between the inclusion of plants into the diet and these traits. Our data show that omnivorous lacertid lizards possess modifications of these traits that allow them to successfully exploit plant material as a food source. Conversely, few indications of a compromise phenotype could be detected, suggesting that the evolution towards herbivory is only mildly constrained by functional trade-offs.
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Herrel A, Vanhooydonck B, Joachim R, Irschick DJ. Frugivory in polychrotid lizards: effects of body size. Oecologia 2004; 140:160-8. [PMID: 15112079 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-004-1558-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2004] [Accepted: 03/11/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
As more data have become available on lizard diets in the past few decades, researchers have stressed the importance of lizards as pollinators and seed dispersers. Whereas large body size has been traditionally put forward as a major biological factor "allowing" herbivory and frugivory in lizards, a recent review of frugivory and seed dispersal by lizards showed that frugivory might be considered to be a typical island phenomenon, independent of body size. Here we show that frugivory is correlated with lizard body size among a group of syntopic Anolis species in Jamaica, with larger species eating more fruit. Additionally, the size of the fruits consumed is significantly related to lizard body size. Multiple regression analyses show that this is largely a pure body size effect as head shape or residual bite force are uncorrelated to overall fruit size. Moreover, we demonstrate that among polychrotid (Anolis-like) lizards in general, those that consume fruit are on average larger than those that do not. Lizards from the mainland were not significantly different in body size from island species. We thus suggest that fruit consumption in polychrotid lizards is mediated by large body size whether living on islands or not.
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48
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Verwaijen D, Van Damme R, Herrel A. Relationships between head size, bite force, prey handling efficiency and diet in two sympatric lacertid lizards. Funct Ecol 2002. [DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2435.2002.00696.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 220] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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50
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