Repeated evolution of carnivory among Indo-Australian rodents

Comparative analysis of optional hunting behavior in Cricetinae hamsters using the data compression approach

Research into the hunting behavior in members of the Cricetidae family offers an opportunity to reveal what changes in the predatory behavioral sequences occur when a rodent species shifts from an omnivorous to a predatory lifestyle. The study tests the following hypotheses: are there phylogenetic differences in the divergence of species' predatory lifestyles in hamsters or do ecological factors lead to shaping their hunting behavior? We applied the data compression approach for performing comparative analysis of hunting patterns as biological "texts." The study presents a comparative analysis of hunting behaviors in five Cricetinae species, focusing on the new data obtained for the desert hamster Phodopus roborovskii whose behavior has never been studied before. The hunting behavior of P. roborovskii appeared to be the most variable one. In contrast, behavioral sequences in P. campbelli and Allocricetulus curtatus display more significant order and predictability of behavior during hunting. Optional hunting behavior in the most ancient species P. roborovskii displayed similarities with obligate patterns in "young" Allocricetulus species. It thus turned out to be the most advanced hunter among members of the Phodopus genus. Differences in hunting sequences among Phodopus representatives suggest that the hunting behavior of these species, despite its optional mode, was subject to selection during species splitting within the genus. These results did not reveal the role played by phylogenetic differences in the divergence of species' predatory lifestyles. They suggested that ecological conditions are the main factors in speciation of the hunting behavior in hamsters.

Species Delimitation, Phylogenomics, and Biogeography of Sulawesi Flying Lizards: A Diversification History Complicated by Ancient Hybridization, Cryptic Species, and Arrested Speciation

The biota of Sulawesi is noted for its high degree of endemism and for its substantial levels of in situ biological diversification. While the island's long period of isolation and dynamic tectonic history have been implicated as drivers of the regional diversification, this has rarely been tested in the context of an explicit geological framework. Here, we provide a tectonically informed biogeographical framework that we use to explore the diversification history of Sulawesi flying lizards (the Draco lineatus Group), a radiation that is endemic to Sulawesi and its surrounding islands. We employ a framework for inferring cryptic speciation that involves phylogeographic and genetic clustering analyses as a means of identifying potential species followed by population demographic assessment of divergence-timing and rates of bi-directional migration as means of confirming lineage independence (and thus species status). Using this approach, phylogenetic and population genetic analyses of mitochondrial sequence data obtained for 613 samples, a 50-SNP data set for 370 samples, and a 1249-locus exon-capture data set for 106 samples indicate that the current taxonomy substantially understates the true number of Sulawesi Draco species, that both cryptic and arrested speciations have taken place, and that ancient hybridization confounds phylogenetic analyses that do not explicitly account for reticulation. The Draco lineatus Group appears to comprise 15 species-9 on Sulawesi proper and 6 on peripheral islands. The common ancestor of this group colonized Sulawesi ~11 Ma when proto-Sulawesi was likely composed of two ancestral islands, and began to radiate ~6 Ma as new islands formed and were colonized via overwater dispersal. The enlargement and amalgamation of many of these proto-islands into modern Sulawesi, especially during the past 3 Ma, set in motion dynamic species interactions as once-isolated lineages came into secondary contact, some of which resulted in lineage merger, and others surviving to the present. [Genomics; Indonesia; introgression; mitochondria; phylogenetics; phylogeography; population genetics; reptiles.].

Bayesian Prediction of Multivariate Ecology from Phenotypic Data Yields New Insights into the Diets of Extant and Extinct Taxa

AbstractMorphology often reflects ecology, enabling the prediction of ecological roles for taxa that lack direct observations, such as fossils. In comparative analyses, ecological traits, like diet, are often treated as categorical, which may aid prediction and simplify analyses but ignores the multivariate nature of ecological niches. Furthermore, methods for quantifying and predicting multivariate ecology remain rare. Here, we ranked the relative importance of 13 food items for a sample of 88 extant carnivoran mammals and then used Bayesian multilevel modeling to assess whether those rankings could be predicted from dental morphology and body size. Traditional diet categories fail to capture the true multivariate nature of carnivoran diets, but Bayesian regression models derived from living taxa have good predictive accuracy for importance ranks. Using our models to predict the importance of individual food items, the multivariate dietary niche, and the nearest extant analogs for a set of data-deficient extant and extinct carnivoran species confirms long-standing ideas for some taxa but yields new insights into the fundamental dietary niches of others. Our approach provides a promising alternative to traditional dietary classifications. Importantly, this approach need not be limited to diet but serves as a general framework for predicting multivariate ecology from phenotypic traits.

A new genus and species of shrew-like mouse (Rodentia: Muridae) from a new center of endemism in eastern Mindanao, Philippines

The Philippine archipelago hosts an exceptional diversity of murid rodents that have diversified following several independent colonization events. Here, we report the discovery of a new species of rodent from Mt. Kampalili on eastern Mindanao Island. Molecular and craniodental analyses reveal this species as a member of a Philippine "New Endemic" clade consisting of Tarsomys, Limnomys, and Rattus everetti (tribe Rattini). This new species of "shrew-mouse" is easily distinguished from its relatives in both craniodental and external characteristics including a long, narrow snout; small eyes and ears; short, dark, dense fur dorsally and ventrally; stout body with a tapering, visibly haired tail shorter than head and body length; stout forepaws; bulbous and nearly smooth braincase; narrow, tapering rostrum; short incisive foramina; slender mandible; and narrow, slightly opisthodont incisors. This new genus and species of murid rodent illustrates that murids of the tribe Rattini have exhibited greater species and morphological diversification within the Philippines than previously known and provides evidence that Mt. Kampalili represents a previously unrecognized center of mammalian endemism on Mindanao Island that is deserving of conservation action.

On the evolution of trophic position

The trophic structure of food webs is primarily determined by the variation in trophic position among species and individuals. Temporal dynamics of food web structure are central to our understanding of energy and nutrient fluxes in changing environments, but little is known about how evolutionary processes shape trophic position variation in natural populations. We propose that trophic position, whose expression depends on both environmental and genetic determinants of the diet variation in individual consumers, is a quantitative trait that can evolve via natural selection. Such evolution can occur either when trophic position is correlated with other heritable morphological and behavioural traits under selection, or when trophic position is a target of selection, which is possible if the fitness effects of prey items are heterogeneously distributed along food chains. Recognising trophic position as an evolving trait, whose expression depends on the food web context, provides an important conceptual link between behavioural foraging theory and food web dynamics, and a useful starting point for the integration of ecological and evolutionary studies of trophic position.

Ancient DNA Suggests Single Colonization and Within-Archipelago Diversification of Caribbean Caviomorph Rodents

Reconstructing the evolutionary history of island biotas is complicated by unusual morphological evolution in insular environments. However, past human-caused extinctions limit the use of molecular analyses to determine origins and affinities of enigmatic island taxa. The Caribbean formerly contained a morphologically diverse assemblage of caviomorph rodents (33 species in 19 genera), ranging from ∼0.1 to 200 kg and traditionally classified into three higher-order taxa (Capromyidae/Capromyinae, Heteropsomyinae, and Heptaxodontidae). Few species survive today, and the evolutionary affinities of living and extinct Caribbean caviomorphs to each other and to mainland taxa are unclear: Are they monophyletic, polyphyletic, or paraphyletic? We use ancient DNA techniques to present the first genetic data for extinct heteropsomyines and heptaxodontids, as well as for several extinct capromyids, and demonstrate through analysis of mitogenomic and nuclear data sets that all sampled Caribbean caviomorphs represent a well-supported monophyletic group. The remarkable morphological and ecological variation observed across living and extinct caviomorphs from Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and other islands was generated through within-archipelago evolutionary radiation following a single Early Miocene overwater colonization. This evolutionary pattern contrasts with the origination of diversity in many other Caribbean groups. All living and extinct Caribbean caviomorphs comprise a single biologically remarkable subfamily (Capromyinae) within the morphologically conservative living Neotropical family Echimyidae. Caribbean caviomorphs represent an important new example of insular mammalian adaptive radiation, where taxa retaining “ancestral-type” characteristics coexisted alongside taxa occupying novel island niches. Diversification was associated with the greatest insular body mass increase recorded in rodents and possibly the greatest for any mammal lineage.

Molecular Evolution of Ecological Specialisation: Genomic Insights from the Diversification of Murine Rodents

Adaptive radiations are characterized by the diversification and ecological differentiation of species, and replicated cases of this process provide natural experiments for understanding the repeatability and pace of molecular evolution. During adaptive radiation, genes related to ecological specialization may be subject to recurrent positive directional selection. However, it is not clear to what extent patterns of lineage-specific ecological specialization (including phenotypic convergence) are correlated with shared signatures of molecular evolution. To test this, we sequenced whole exomes from a phylogenetically dispersed sample of 38 murine rodent species, a group characterized by multiple, nested adaptive radiations comprising extensive ecological and phenotypic diversity. We found that genes associated with immunity, reproduction, diet, digestion, and taste have been subject to pervasive positive selection during the diversification of murine rodents. We also found a significant correlation between genome-wide positive selection and dietary specialization, with a higher proportion of positively selected codon sites in derived dietary forms (i.e., carnivores and herbivores) than in ancestral forms (i.e., omnivores). Despite striking convergent evolution of skull morphology and dentition in two distantly related worm-eating specialists, we did not detect more genes with shared signatures of positive or relaxed selection than in a nonconvergent species comparison. Although a small number of the genes we detected can be incidentally linked to craniofacial morphology or diet, protein-coding regions are unlikely to be the primary genetic basis of this complex convergent phenotype. Our results suggest a link between positive selection and derived ecological phenotypes, and highlight specific genes and general functional categories that may have played an integral role in the extensive and rapid diversification of murine rodents.

Tempo and Mode: Evidence on a Protracted Split From a Dense Fossil Record

Fossil records generally inform paleobiologists about extinct taxa and rates of evolution measured at the scale of millions of years. Good records that are densely sampled through time can reveal species level details such as longevity in local sections. Yet fossil data normally do not address details of lineage microevolution because the density through time of lineage sampling is insufficient to perceive patterns at a precision finer than 106 years in most cases. This study concerns details of a splitting event in the evolution of murine rodents, an event for which multiple fossil samples dated to a precision of 105 years fortuitously document the tempo and mode of origin of sister species, the stems of two extant tribes of mice. Evolution of early Murinae in the northern part of the biogeographically restricted Indian subcontinent between 11.6 and 10.5 Ma involved cladogenesis of two crown taxa, the extant tribes Murini and Arvicanthini. Large samples of fossil rodent teeth document their divergence from a common morphological pool. Definitive basal Murini and Arvicanthini at 10.5 Ma are similar in size and differ by subtle features of the dentition. Those features occur sporadically in the common pool of older fossil teeth at 11.2, 11.4, and 11.6 Ma as inconsistent polymorphisms. Interpreted as a single lineage in the 11.6–11.2 Ma interval, variability of this abundant murine incorporated the roots of the two crown tribes. The pattern through time suggests morphological stasis for several hundred thousand years prior to splitting. This special case informs us on one example of evolution and shows that the tempo of splitting evolution in some cases may be measured in hundreds of thousands of years, followed by stasis once daughter species have differentiated morphologically.

Eight New Species of Sucking Lice (Psocodea: Phthiraptera) From Endemic Murine Rodents in Australia and an Updated Identification Key

Based on a comprehensive study of museum specimens, eight new species of sucking lice of the genus Hoplopleura Enderlein, 1904 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae), are described from six genera of Australian Old Endemic rodents: Conilurus Ogilby, 1838 (Rodentia: Muridae), Leggadina Thomas, 1910 (Rodentia: Muridae), Leporillus Thomas, 1906 (Rodentia: Muridae), Mesembriomys Palmer, 1906 (Rodentia: Muridae), Pogonomys Milne-Edwards, 1877 (Rodentia: Muridae), and Xeromys Thomas, 1889 (Rodentia: Muridae). The description of these new species increases the number of sucking louse species from endemic Australian rodents from 13 to 21 and extends the records of sucking lice to all of the 14 genera of endemic rodents in Australia. Our results show that sucking lice are much more diverse among rodents in Australia than previously known. Furthermore, the Australian Hoplopleura species are host specific-each Hoplopleura species, including the eight new species described in the present study, parasitizes only a single host species, except Hoplopleura irritans Kuhn and Ludwig, 1967 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae) and Hoplopleura melomydis Weaver, 2017 (Psocodea: Phthiraptera: Hoplopleuridae), each of which is found on two host species. An updated dichotomous key for identifying Australian Hoplopleura species is included.

Locomotory mode transitions alter phenotypic evolution and lineage diversification in an ecologically rich clade of mammals

The relationship between organismal function and form is a cornerstone of biology because functional diversity is key to generating and maintaining ecological diversity. Morphological changes often occur in unison with behavioral or ecological transitions, and this process may foster diversification, but alternately could trap a species on an adaptive peak. We estimated the most comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis of Murinae, a young (∼15 million years) and diverse (∼700 species) clade of mammals. We then tested for correlated evolution among four morphological traits with potential links to locomotor modes (Arboreal, General, Terrestrial, and Amphibious), then investigated the effects of locomotion on morphological and lineage diversification. We found unique combinations of trait values for each locomotor mode, including strong covariance between the tail and hindfoot lengths of specialized Arboreal and ecologically flexible General species. Low diversification rates and long branch lengths suggest that specialized lineages represent stable evolutionary "cul-de-sacs." General species, characterized by the classic "rat-like" body plan and broad locomotor abilities, have narrow optimal trait values and slow phenotypic evolution, but high lineage diversification rates. Our findings suggest that versatile, generalist forms act as seeds of species diversity and morphological specialization, which together build ecologically diverse radiations.

Insectivory leads to functional convergence in a group of Neotropical rodents

The mandible of vertebrates serves as insertion area for masticatory muscles that originate on the skull, and its functional properties are subject to selective forces related to trophic ecology. The efficiency of masticatory muscles can be measured as mechanical advantage on the mandible, which, in turn, has the property of correlating with bite force and shape. In the present work, we quantify the mechanical advantage of the mandible of akodontine rodents, which present a diverse radiation of insectivorous specialists, to assess their relationship to the estimated bite force and diet. We also tested the degree of morphofunctional convergence in response to insectivory on the group. We found the mechanical advantages to be convergent on insectivorous species, and associated with the estimated bite force, with higher mechanical advantages in species with a stronger bite and short, robust mandibles and lower mechanical advantages in insectivorous species with weaker bites and more elongated, dorso-ventrally compressed mandibles. Insectivorous species of Akodontini are functional specialists for the consumption of live prey and may exploit the resources that shrews, moles and hedgehogs consume elsewhere.

Miocene geologic dynamics of the Australian Sahul Shelf determined the biogeographic patterns of freshwater planorbid snails (Miratestinae) in the Indo-Australian Archipelago

The complex geological and climatic processes that have shaped the Indo-Australian Archipelago since the Cenozoic likely also gave rise to its species-rich biota. Strictly freshwater organisms might be particularly suitable for understanding the influence of these abiotic factors on their biogeography in such a insular setting as their distribution may reflect past abiotic events at large and small geographical scales. We here investigate the historical biogeography of the Miratestinae, a subfamily of Planorbidae. These freshwater gastropods are widely distributed in the eastern IAA from Australia, New Guinea, the Moluccas, and Sulawesi to the Philippines. The first comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Miratestinae was inferred based on two mitochondrial and two nuclear genetic markers using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Four species delimitation methods were applied to identify molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs). Divergence times were inferred using an uncorrelated lognormal relaxed-clock model by applying a taxon- and marker-specific substitution rate. Ancestral geographic ranges were estimated based on the dated phylogeny using BioGeoBEARS. The species delimitation revealed a total of 23 MOTUs, 16 of which might represent species new to science. The BioGeoBEARS analyses suggest an Australian origin for the Miratestinae at c. 22 Ma and identified jump dispersal to be the main process of colonization. The first colonization events from Australia to the IAA occurred in the Middle-Late Miocene (12-13 Ma), whereas intra-island diversification took mainly place since the Late Miocene-Pliocene. Colonization and diversification events remarkably coincide with major geologic events that shaped the geography of the region. The increasing availability of landmasses along the Sahul Shelf likely promoted stepping-stone dispersal to New Guinea, Sulawesi and the Philippines as early as the islands emerged. Major geological and climatic events such as the amalgamation of the island Sulawesi, the regional aridification in Australia or the uplift of massive mountain ranges in New Guinea likely played a considerable role for intra-island diversification.

Australian Rodents Reveal Conserved Cranial Evolutionary Allometry across 10 Million Years of Murid Evolution

AbstractAmong vertebrates, placental mammals are particularly variable in the covariance between cranial shape and body size (allometry), with rodents being a major exception. Australian murid rodents allow an assessment of the cause of this anomaly because they radiated on an ecologically diverse continent notably lacking other terrestrial placentals. Here, we use 3D geometric morphometrics to quantify species-level and evolutionary allometries in 38 species (317 crania) from all Australian murid genera. We ask whether ecological opportunity resulted in greater allometric diversity compared with other rodents or whether conserved allometry suggests intrinsic constraints and/or stabilizing selection. We also assess whether cranial shape variation follows the proposed rule of craniofacial evolutionary allometry (CREA), whereby larger species have relatively longer snouts and smaller braincases. To ensure we could differentiate parallel versus nonparallel species-level allometric slopes, we compared the slopes of rarefied samples across all clades. We found exceedingly conserved allometry and CREA-like patterns across the 10-million-year split between Mus and Australian murids. This could support both intrinsic-constraint and stabilizing-selection hypotheses for conserved allometry. Large-bodied frugivores evolved faster than other species along the allometric trajectory, which could suggest stabilizing selection on the shape of the masticatory apparatus as body size changes.

Dietary morphology of two island-endemic murid rodent clades is consistent with persistent, incumbent-imposed competitive interactions

A lineage colonizing a geographic region with no competitors may exhibit rapid diversification due to greater ecological opportunity. The resultant species diversity of this primary-colonizing (incumbent) clade may limit subsequent lineages' ability to persist unless these non-incumbent lineages are ecologically distinct. We compare the diversity in diet-related mandibular morphology of two sympatric murid rodent clades endemic to Luzon Island, Philippines-incumbent Phloeomyini and secondary-colonizing Chrotomyini-to the mandibular morphological diversity of Sahul Hydromyini, the sister clade of Chrotomyini and the incumbent murid lineage on the supercontinent of Sahul. This three-clade comparison allows us to test the hypothesis that incumbent lineages can force persistent ecological distinction of subsequent colonists at the time of colonization and throughout the subsequent history of the two sympatric clades. We find that Chrotomyini forms a subset of the diversity of their clade plus Sahul Hydromyini that minimizes overlap with Phloeomyini. We also infer that this differentiation extends to the stem ancestor of Chrotomyini and Sahul Hydromyini, consistent with a biotic filter imposed by Phloeomyini. Our work illustrates that incumbency has the potential to have a profound influence on the ecomorphological diversity of colonizing lineages at the island scale even when the traits in question are evolving at similar rates among independently colonizing clades.

A simple skeletal measurement effectively predicts climbing behaviour in a diverse clade of small mammals

Arboreal locomotion allows access to above-ground resources and might have fostered the diversification of mammals. Nevertheless, simple morphological measurements that consistently correlate with arboreality remain indefinable. As such, the climbing habits of many species of mammals, living and extinct, remain speculative. We collected quantitative data on the climbing tendencies of 20 species of murine rodents, an ecologically and morphologically diverse clade. We leveraged Bayesian phylogenetic mixed models (BPMMs), incorporating intraspecific variation and phylogenetic uncertainty, to determine which, if any, traits (17 skeletal indices) predict climbing frequency. We used ordinal BPMMs to test the ability of the indices to place 48 murine species that lack quantitative climbing data into three qualitative locomotor categories (terrestrial, general and arboreal). Only two indices (both measures of relative digit length) accurately predict locomotor styles, with manus digit length showing the best fit. Manus digit length has low phylogenetic signal, is largely explained by locomotor ecology and might effectively predict locomotion across a multitude of small mammals, including extinct species. Surprisingly, relative tail length, a common proxy for locomotion, was a poor predictor of climbing. In general, detailed, quantitative natural history data, such as those presented here, are needed to enhance our understanding of the evolutionary and ecological success of clades.

Convergent evolution in the Euarchontoglires

Convergence—the independent evolution of similar phenotypes in distantly related clades—is a widespread and much-studied phenomenon. An often-cited, but hitherto untested, case of morphological convergence is that between the aye-aye and squirrels. The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a highly unusual lemuriform primate that has evolved a dentition similar to that of rodents: it possesses large, ever-growing incisors which it uses to strip the bark from trees in order to feed on wood-boring beetle larvae. Indeed, such is the similarity that some of the earliest classifications of the aye-aye placed it in the squirrel genus Sciurus. Here, we aimed to test the degree of convergence between the skulls and lower jaws of squirrels and the aye-aye. Three-dimensional landmarks were recorded from the crania and mandibles of 46 taxa representing the majority of families in the Euarchontoglires. Results were plotted as phylomorphospaces and convergence measures were calculated. The convergence between squirrels and the aye-aye was shown to be statistically significant for both the cranium and mandible, although the mandibles seem to converge more closely in shape. The convergence may indicate strong functional drivers of morphology in these taxa, i.e. the use of the incisors to produce high bite forces during feeding. Overall, we have shown that this classic case of convergence stands up to quantitative analysis.

Two new species of shrew-rats (Rhynchomys: Muridae: Rodentia) from Luzon Island, Philippines

The murine genus Rhynchomys includes the large-bodied Philippine “shrew-rats,” highly specialized members of the vermivorous clade of Philippine murids. Four species are recognized, all of which are endemic to Luzon Island: R. soricoides from mountains within the Central Cordillera, R. isarogensis from Mt. Isarog on the Bicol Peninsula, R. banahao from Mt. Banahaw in south-central Luzon, and R. tapulao from Mt. Tapulao in the Zambales Mountains. Field surveys in 2006 and 2008 revealed two additional populations of Rhynchomys, one from Mt. Labo (1,544 m), a dormant stratovolcano at the base of the Bicol Peninsula, the other from Mt. Mingan (1,901 m), the highest peak in the central Sierra Madre of east-central Luzon. Assessment of external and craniodental features of available specimens from throughout Luzon support our description of the populations on Mt. Labo and Mt. Mingan as new species. All species of Rhynchomys are restricted to high-elevation, montane, and mossy forest habitats, separated by intervening lowlands. These discoveries highlight the importance of isolated highland areas in the historical diversification of Southeast Asian murines, and as current centers of endemism.

Tempo and mode of mandibular shape and size evolution reveal mixed support for incumbency effects in two clades of island-endemic rodents (Muridae: Murinae)

Existing radiations in a spatially limited system such as an oceanic island may limit the ecological opportunity experienced by later colonists, resulting in lower macroevolutionary rates for secondary radiations. Additionally, potential colonists may be competitively excluded by these incumbent (resident) species, unless they are biologically distinct (biotic filtering). The extant phenotypic diversity of secondary colonists may thus be impacted by lower rates of phenotypic evolution, exclusion from certain phenotypes, and transitions to new morphotypes to escape competition from incumbent lineages. We used geometric morphometric methods to test whether the rates and patterns of mandibular evolution of the Luzon "old endemic" rodent clades, Phloeomyini and Chrotomyini, are consistent with these predictions. Each clade occupied nearly completely separate shape space and partially separate size space. We detected limited support for decelerating and clade-specific evolutionary rates for both shape and size, with strong evidence for a shift in evolutionary mode within Chrotomyini. Our results suggest that decelerating phenotypic evolutionary rates are not a necessary result of incumbency interactions; rather, incumbency effects may be more likely to determine which clades can become established in the system. Nonincumbent clades that pass a biotic filter can potentially exhibit relatively unfettered evolution.

Masticatory Apparatus Performance and Functional Morphology in the Extremely Large Mice from Gough Island

Since their arrival approximately 200 years ago, the house mice (Mus musculus) on Gough Island (GI) rapidly increased in size to become the largest wild house mice on record. Along with this extreme increase in body size, GI mice adopted a predatory diet, consuming significant quantities of seabird chicks and eggs. We studied this natural experiment to determine how evolution of extreme size and a novel diet impacted masticatory apparatus performance and functional morphology in these mice. We measured maximum bite force and jaw opening (i.e., gape) along with several musculoskeletal dimensions functionally linked to these performance measurements to test the hypotheses that GI mice evolved larger bite forces and jaw gapes as part of their extreme increase in size and/or novel diet. GI mice can bite more forcefully and open their jaws wider than a representative mainland strain of house mice. Similarly, GI mice have musculoskeletal features of the masticatory apparatus that are absolutely larger than WSB mice. However, when considered relative to body size or jaw length, as a relevant mechanical standard, GI mice show reduced performance, suggesting a size-related decrease in these abilities. Correspondingly, most musculoskeletal features are not relatively larger in GI mice. Incisor biting leverage and condylar dimensions are exceptions, suggesting relative increases in biting efficiency and condylar rotation in GI mice. Based on these results, we hypothesize that evolutionary enhancements in masticatory performance are correlated with the extreme increase in body size and associated musculoskeletal phenotypes in Gough Island mice. Anat Rec, 2019. © 2018 American Association for Anatomy.

Convergent evolution of an extreme dietary specialisation, the olfactory system of worm-eating rodents

Turbinal bones are key components of the mammalian rostrum that contribute to three critical functions: (1) homeothermy, (2) water conservation and (3) olfaction. With over 700 extant species, murine rodents (Murinae) are the most species-rich mammalian subfamily, with most of that diversity residing in the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Their evolutionary history includes several cases of putative, but untested ecomorphological convergence, especially with traits related to diet. Among the most spectacular rodent ecomorphs are the vermivores which independently evolved in several island systems. We used 3D CT-scans (N = 87) of murine turbinal bones to quantify olfactory capacities as well as heat or water conservation adaptations. We obtained similar results from an existing 2D complexity method and two new 3D methodologies that quantify bone complexity. Using comparative phylogenetic methods, we identified a significant convergent signal in the rostral morphology within the highly specialised vermivores. Vermivorous species have significantly larger and more complex olfactory turbinals than do carnivores and omnivores. Increased olfactory capacities may be a major adaptive feature facilitating rats' capacity to prey on elusive earthworms. The narrow snout that characterises vermivores exhibits significantly reduced respiratory turbinals, which may reduce their heat and water conservation capacities.

Diversification rates of the "Old Endemic" murine rodents of Luzon Island, Philippines are inconsistent with incumbency effects and ecological opportunity

Diversity-dependent cladogenesis occurs when a colonizing lineage exhibits increasing interspecific competition as it ecologically diversifies. Repeated colonization of a region by closely related taxa may cause similar effects as species within each lineage compete with one another. This may be particularly relevant for secondary colonists, which could experience limited diversification due to competition with earlier, incumbent colonists over evolutionary time. We tested the hypothesis that an incumbent lineage may diminish the diversification of secondary colonists in two speciose clades of Philippine "Old Endemic" murine rodents-Phloeomyini and Chrotomyini-on the relatively old oceanic island of Luzon. Although phylogenetic analyses confirm the independent, noncontemporaneous colonization of Luzon by the ancestors of these two clades, we found no support for arrested diversification in either. Rather, it appears that diversification of both clades resulted from constant-rate processes that were either uniform or favored the secondary colonists (Chrotomyini), depending on the method used. Our results suggest that ecological incumbency has not played an important role in determining lineage diversification among Luzon murines, despite sympatric occurrence by constituent species within each lineage, and a substantial head start for the primary colonists.

Sperm morphology of the Rattini – are the interspecific differences due to variation in intensity of intermale sperm competition?

It is widely accepted that in mammals a causal relationship exists between postcopulatory sexual selection and relative testes mass of the species concerned, but how much it determines sperm size and shape is debatable. Here we detailed for the largest murine rodent tribe, the Rattini, the interspecific differences in relative testes mass and sperm form. We found that residual testes mass correlates with sperm head apical hook length as well as its angle, together with tail length, and that within several lineages a few species have evolved highly divergent sperm morphology with a reduced or absent apical hook and shorter tail. Although most species have a relative testes mass of 1–4%, these derived sperm traits invariably co-occur in species with much smaller relative testes mass. We therefore suggest that high levels of intermale sperm competition maintain a sperm head with a long apical hook and long tail, whereas low levels of intermale sperm competition generally result in divergent sperm heads with a short or non-existent apical hook and shorter tail. We thus conclude that sexual selection is a major selective force in driving sperm head form and tail length in this large tribe of murine rodents.

Muroid rodent phylogenetics: 900-species tree reveals increasing diversification rates

We combined new sequence data for more than 300 muroid rodent species with our previously published sequences for up to five nuclear and one mitochondrial genes to generate the most widely and densely sampled hypothesis of evolutionary relationships across Muroidea. An exhaustive screening procedure for publically available sequences was implemented to avoid the propagation of taxonomic errors that are common to supermatrix studies. The combined data set of carefully screened sequences derived from all available sequences on GenBank with our new data resulted in a robust maximum likelihood phylogeny for 900 of the approximately 1,620 muroids. Several regions that were equivocally resolved in previous studies are now more decisively resolved, and we estimated a chronogram using 28 fossil calibrations for the most integrated age and topological estimates to date. The results were used to update muroid classification and highlight questions needing additional data. We also compared the results of multigene supermatrix studies like this one with the principal published supertrees and concluded that the latter are unreliable for any comparative study in muroids. In addition, we explored diversification patterns as an explanation for why muroid rodents represent one of the most species-rich groups of mammals by detecting evidence for increasing net diversification rates through time across the muroid tree. We suggest the observation of increasing rates may be due to a combination of parallel increases in rate across clades and high average extinction rates. Five increased diversification-rate-shifts were inferred, suggesting that multiple, but perhaps not independent, events have led to the remarkable species diversity in the superfamily. Our results provide a phylogenetic framework for comparative studies that is not highly dependent upon the signal from any one gene.

Masticatory muscle architecture in a water-rat from Australasia (Murinae, Hydromys) and its implication for the evolution of carnivory in rodents

Murines are well known for their generalist diet, but several of them display specializations towards a carnivorous diet such as the amphibious Indo-Pacific water-rats. Despite the fact that carnivory evolved repeatedly in this group, few studies have investigated associated changes in jaw muscle anatomy and biomechanics. Here, we describe the jaw muscles and cranial anatomy of a carnivorous water-rat, Hydromys chrysogaster. The architecture of the jaw musculature of six specimens captured both on Obi and Papua were studied and described using dissections. We identified the origin and insertions of the jaw muscles, and quantified muscle mass, fiber length, physiological cross-sectional area, and muscle vectors for each muscle. Using a biomechanical model, we estimated maximum incisor and molar bite force at different gape angles. Finally, we conducted a 2D geometric morphometric analyses to compare jaw shape, mechanical potential, and diversity in lever-arm ratios for a set of 238 specimens, representative of Australo-Papuan carnivorous and omnivorous murids. Our study reveals major changes in the muscle proportions among Hydromys and its omnivorous close relative, Melomys. Hydromys was found to have large superficial masseter and temporalis muscles as well as a reduced deep masseter and zygomatico-mandibularis, highlighting major functional divergence among omnivorous and carnivorous murines. Changes in these muscles are also accompanied by changes in jaw shape and the lines of action of the muscles. A more vertically oriented masseter, reduced masseteric muscles, as well as an elongated jaw with proodont lower incisors are key features indicative of a reduced propalinality in carnivorous Hydromys. Differences in the fiber length of the masseteric muscles were also detected between Hydromys and Melomys, which highlight potential adaptations to a wide gape in Hydromys, allowing it to prey on larger animals. Using a biomechanical model, we inferred a greater bite force in Hydromys than in Melomys, implying a functional shift between omnivory and carnivory. However, Melomys has an unexpected greater bite force at large gape compared with Hydromys. Compared with omnivorous Melomys, Hydromys have a very distinctive low mandible with a well-developed coronoid process, and a reduced angular process that projects posteriorly to the ascending rami. This jaw shape, along with our mechanical potential and jaw lever ratio estimates, suggests that Hydromys has a faster jaw closing at the incisor, with a higher bite force at the level of the molars. The narrowing of the Hydromys jaw explains this higher lever advantage at the molars, which constitutes a good compromise between a wide gape, a reduced anterior masseteric mass, and long fiber lengths. Lever arms of the superficial and deep masseter are less favourable to force output of the mandible in Hydromys but more favourable to speed. Compared with the small input lever arm defined between the condyle and the angular process, the relatively longer mandible of Hydromys increases the speed at the expense of the output force. This unique combination of morphological features of the masticatory apparatus possibly has permitted Hydromys to become a highly successful amphibious predator in the Indo-Pacific region.