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Wang Z, Peng C, Wu W, Yan C, Lv Y, Li JT. Developmental regulation of conserved non-coding element evolution provides insights into limb loss in squamates. SCIENCE CHINA. LIFE SCIENCES 2023; 66:2399-2414. [PMID: 37256419 DOI: 10.1007/s11427-023-2362-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Limb loss shows recurrent phenotypic evolution across squamate lineages. Here, based on three de novo-assembled genomes of limbless lizards from different lineages, we showed that divergence of conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) played an important role in limb development. These CNEs were associated with genes required for limb initiation and outgrowth, and with regulatory signals in the early stage of limb development. Importantly, we identified the extensive existence of insertions and deletions (InDels) in the CNEs, with the numbers ranging from 111 to 756. Most of these CNEs with InDels were lineage-specific in the limbless squamates. Nearby genes of these InDel CNEs were important to early limb formation, such as Tbx4, Fgf10, and Gli3. Based on functional experiments, we found that nucleotide mutations and InDels both affected the regulatory function of the CNEs. Our study provides molecular evidence underlying limb loss in squamate reptiles from a developmental perspective and sheds light on the importance of regulatory element InDels in phenotypic evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeng Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & h Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Changjun Peng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & h Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Wei Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & h Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Chaochao Yan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & h Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Yunyun Lv
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & h Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- College of Life Science, Neijiang Normal University, Neijiang, 641100, China
| | - Jia-Tang Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & h Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
- Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yezin Nay Pyi Taw, 05282, Myanmar.
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2
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Linden TJ, Burtner AE, Rickman J, McFeely A, Santana SE, Law CJ. Scaling patterns of body plans differ among squirrel ecotypes. PeerJ 2023; 11:e14800. [PMID: 36718452 PMCID: PMC9884040 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Body size is often hypothesized to facilitate or constrain morphological diversity in the cranial, appendicular, and axial skeletons. However, how overall body shape scales with body size (i.e., body shape allometry) and whether these scaling patterns differ between ecological groups remains poorly investigated. Here, we test whether and how the relationships between body shape, body size, and limb lengths differ among species with different locomotor specializations, and describe the underlying morphological components that contribute to body shape evolution among squirrel (Sciuridae) ecotypes. We quantified the body size and shape of 87 squirrel species from osteological specimens held at museum collections. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we first found that body shape and its underlying morphological components scale allometrically with body size, but these allometric patterns differ among squirrel ecotypes: chipmunks and gliding squirrels exhibited more elongate bodies with increasing body sizes whereas ground squirrels exhibited more robust bodies with increasing body size. Second, we found that only ground squirrels exhibit a relationship between forelimb length and body shape, where more elongate species exhibit relatively shorter forelimbs. Third, we found that the relative length of the ribs and elongation or shortening of the thoracic region contributes the most to body shape evolution across squirrels. Overall, our work contributes to the growing understanding of mammalian body shape evolution and how it is influenced by body size and locomotor ecology, in this case from robust subterranean to gracile gliding squirrels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tate J. Linden
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | | | | | - Annika McFeely
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | | | - Chris J. Law
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America,University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States of America,American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, United States of America
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3
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Collar DC, Tremaine S, Harrington RC, Beckett HT, Friedman M. Mosaic adaptive peak shifts underlie body shape diversification in pelagiarian fishes (Acanthomorpha: Percomorpha). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blac096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Extreme body elongation in fishes is a major evolutionary transformation that extends the boundaries of morphological diversity and alters aspects of function, behaviour and ecology. Prior studies have identified features of the cranial and axial skeleton that characterize elongate fishes, but a lack of detailed reconstructions of anatomical evolution has limited inferences about factors that underlie major shifts in body shape. In this study, we fitted multi-peak adaptive (Ornstein–Uhlenbeck) evolutionary models to species body shape and anatomical dimensions in Pelagiaria, a radiation of open-ocean fishes whose species span a continuum from deep bodied to highly elongate. We inferred an ancestral fusiform adaptive peak that is retained by several major pelagiarian lineages (e.g. Scombridae) and found robust support for multiple transitions to deep-bodied optima (in the families Stromateidae, Bramidae and Caristiidae) and elongate-bodied optima (within Trichiuroidei), including two instances of sequential shifts towards increasingly elongate optima that followed distinct paths of anatomical evolution. Within Trichiuridae, initial increases in head length and the number of vertebrae were followed by changes in head and vertebral shape. Within an elongate-bodied subclade of taxa traditionally identified as ‘gempylids’, changes in head and vertebral shape and in the number of precaudal vertebrae preceded an increase in the number of caudal vertebrae. Altogether, this mosaic of anatomical peak shifts suggests that body shape transformations were associated with differing selective demands and developmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- David C Collar
- Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology, Christopher Newport University , Newport News, VA , USA
| | - Samantha Tremaine
- Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology, Christopher Newport University , Newport News, VA , USA
| | - Richard C Harrington
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University , New Haven, CT , USA
| | - Hermione T Beckett
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford , Oxford , UK
- Department of Biology, King’s High School for Girls , Warwick , UK
| | - Matt Friedman
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI , USA
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI , USA
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4
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Wainwright DK, Karan EA, Collar DC. Evolutionary patterns of scale morphology in damselfishes (Pomacentridae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Fish scales are bony plates embedded in the skin that vary extensively in shape across taxa. Despite a plethora of hypotheses regarding form–function relationships in scales, we know little about the ecological selective factors that shape their diversity. Here we examine evolutionary patterns of scale morphology using novel three-dimensional topography from the surfaces of 59 species of damselfishes, a prominent radiation of coral reef fishes. We find evidence that scale morphology changes with different flow environments, such that species that spend more time in open-water habitats have smoother scales. We also show that other aspects of ecology lead to highly derived scales. For example, anemonefishes show an evolutionary transition to smaller scales and smaller ctenii (scale spines). Moreover, changes in body shape, which may reflect ecological differentiation, are related to scale shape but not surface properties. We also demonstrate weak evolutionary integration among multiple aspects of scale morphology; however, scale size and shape are related, and scale morphology is correlated between different body regions. Finally, we also identify a relationship between aspects of lateral line pore morphology, such that the number of lateral line pores per scale and the size of those pores are inversely related. Overall, our study provides insights into the multidimensionality of scale evolution and improves our understanding of some of the factors that can give rise to the diversity of scales seen across fishes.
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5
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Friedman ST, Collyer ML, Price SA, Wainwright PC. Divergent processes drive parallel evolution in marine and freshwater fishes. Syst Biol 2021; 71:1319-1330. [PMID: 34605882 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syab080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary comparisons between major environmental divides, such as between marine and freshwater systems, can reveal the fundamental processes governing diversification dynamics. Although processes may differ due to the different scales of their biogeographic barriers, freshwater and marine environments nevertheless offer similar opportunities for diversification in benthic, demersal, and pelagic habitats. Here, we compare the evolutionary patterns and processes shaping teleost diversity both in each of these three habitats and between marine and freshwater systems. Using specimens from the National Museum of Natural History, we developed a dataset of linear measurements capturing body shape in 2,266 freshwater and 3,344 marine teleost species. With a novel comparative approach, we contrast the primary axis of morphological diversification in each habitat with the major axis defined by phylogenetic signal. By comparing angles between these axes, we find that fish in corresponding habitats have more similar primary axes of morphological diversity than would be expected by chance, but that different historical processes underlie these parallel patterns in freshwater and marine environments. Marine diversification is more strongly aligned with phylogenetic signal and shows a trend toward lineages occupying separate regions of morphospace. In contrast, ecological signal appears to be a strong driver of diversification in freshwater lineages through repeated morphological evolution in densely packed regions of morphospace. In spite of these divergent histories, our findings reveal that habitat has driven convergent patterns of evolutionary diversification on a global scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- S T Friedman
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - M L Collyer
- Department of Science, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15232, USA
| | - S A Price
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - P C Wainwright
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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6
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Abstract
AbstractMorphological diversity is often attributed as adaptations to distinct ecologies. Although biologists have long hypothesized that distinct ecologies drive the evolution of body shape, these relationships are rarely tested across macroevolutionary scales in mammals. Here, I tested hypotheses that locomotor, hunting, and dietary ecologies influenced body shape evolution in carnivorans, a morphologically and ecologically diverse clade of mammals. I found that adaptive models with ecological trait regimes were poor predictors of carnivoran body shape and the underlying morphological components that contribute to body shape variation. Instead, the best-supported model exhibited clade-based evolutionary shifts, indicating that the complexity and variation of body shape landscape cannot be effectively captured by a priori ecological regimes. However, ecological adaptations of body shapes cannot be ruled out, as aquatic and terrestrial carnivorans exhibited opposite allometric patterns of body shape that may be driven by different gravitational constraints associated with these different environments. Similar to body size, body shape is a prominent feature of vertebrate morphology that may transcend one-to-one mapping relationships between morphology and ecological traits, enabling species with distinct body shapes to exploit similar resources and exhibit similar ecologies. Together, these results demonstrate that the multidimensionality of both body shape morphology and ecology makes it difficult to disentangle the complex relationship among morphological evolution, ecological diversity, and phylogeny across macroevolutionary scales.
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7
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Collar DC, DiPaolo ECC, Mai SL, Mehta RS. Body shape transformations by alternate anatomical adaptive peak shifts in blenniiform fishes. Evolution 2021; 75:1552-1566. [PMID: 33890296 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Extreme body elongation has occurred repeatedly in the evolutionary history of ray-finned fishes. Lengthening of the anterior-posterior body axis relative to depth and width can involve changes in the cranial skeleton and vertebral column, but to what extent is anatomical evolution determined by selective factors and intrinsic constraints that are shared broadly among closely related lineages? In this study, we fit adaptive (Ornstein-Uhlenbeck) evolutionary models to body shape and its anatomical determinants and identified two instances of extreme elongation by divergent anatomical peak shifts in the Blenniiformes, a radiation of small-bodied substrate-associated marine teleost fishes. Species in the genus Xiphasia (hairtail blennies) evolved toward a peak defined by a highly elongated caudal vertebral region but ancestral cranial and precaudal vertebral morphology. In contrast, a clade that includes the genera Chaenopsis and Lucayablennius (pike and arrow blennies) evolved toward a peak with a long slender skull but ancestral axial skeletal anatomy. Neither set of anatomical peak shifts aligns closely with the major axis of anatomical diversification in other blenniiform fishes. These results provide little evidence that ancestral constraints have affected body shape transformation, and instead suggest that extreme elongation arose with distinct shifts in selective factors and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- David C Collar
- Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, 23606
| | - Emma C C DiPaolo
- Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, 23606
| | - Sienna L Mai
- Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, 23606
| | - Rita S Mehta
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060
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8
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Law CJ. Evolutionary and morphological patterns underlying carnivoran body shape diversity. Evolution 2020; 75:365-375. [PMID: 33314085 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Revised: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The diversity of body shapes is one of the most prominent features of phenotypic variation in vertebrates. Biologists, however, still lack a full understanding of the underlying morphological components that contribute to its diversity, particularly in endothermic vertebrates such as mammals. In this study, hypotheses pertaining to the evolution of the cranial and axial components that contribute to the diversity of carnivoran body shapes were tested. Three trends were found in the evolution of carnivoran body shapes: (1) carnivorans exhibit diverse body shapes with intrafamilial variation predicted best by family clade age, (2) body shape is driven by strong allometric effects of body size where species become more elongate with decreasing size, and (3) the thoracic and lumbar regions and rib length contribute the most to body shape variation, albeit pathways differ between different families. These results reveal the morphological patterns that led to increased diversity in carnivoran body shapes and elucidate the similarities and dissimilarities that govern body shape diversity across vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris J Law
- Department of Mammalogy and Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024.,Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105
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9
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Bergmann PJ, Morinaga G, Freitas ES, Irschick DJ, Wagner GP, Siler CD. Locomotion and palaeoclimate explain the re-evolution of quadrupedal body form in Brachymeles lizards. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201994. [PMID: 33171093 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary reversals, including re-evolution of lost structures, are commonly found in phylogenetic studies. However, we lack an understanding of how these reversals happen mechanistically. A snake-like body form has evolved many times in vertebrates, and occasionally a quadrupedal form has re-evolved, including in Brachymeles lizards. We use body form and locomotion data for species ranging from snake-like to quadrupedal to address how a quadrupedal form could re-evolve. We show that large, quadrupedal species are faster at burying and surface locomotion than snake-like species, indicating a lack of expected performance trade-off between these modes of locomotion. Species with limbs use them while burying, suggesting that limbs are useful for burying in wet, packed substrates. Palaeoclimatological data suggest that Brachymeles originally evolved a snake-like form under a drier climate probably with looser soil in which it was easier to dig. The quadrupedal clade evolved as the climate became humid, where limbs and large size facilitated fossorial locomotion in packed soils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip J Bergmann
- Department of Biology, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA
| | - Gen Morinaga
- Department of Biology, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA
| | - Elyse S Freitas
- Department of Biology and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, OK 73072, USA
| | - Duncan J Irschick
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Günter P Wagner
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Cameron D Siler
- Department of Biology and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, OK 73072, USA
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10
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Mehta RS, Akesson K, Redmann E, McCarty‐Glenn M, Ortega R, Syed S, Yap‐Chiongco M, Jacquemetton C, Ward AB. Terrestrial locomotion in elongate fishes: exploring the roles of morphology and substrate in facilitating locomotion. J Zool (1987) 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- R. S. Mehta
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA USA
| | - K. Akesson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA USA
| | - E. Redmann
- Department of Biology Adelphi University Garden City NY USA
| | | | - R. Ortega
- Department of Biology Adelphi University Garden City NY USA
| | - S. Syed
- Department of Biology Adelphi University Garden City NY USA
| | - M. Yap‐Chiongco
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA USA
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Alabama Tuscaloosa AL USA
| | - C. Jacquemetton
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz CA USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USA
| | - A. B. Ward
- Department of Biology Adelphi University Garden City NY USA
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11
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Ito F, Matsumoto T, Hirata T. Frequent nonrandom shifts in the temporal sequence of developmental landmark events during teleost evolutionary diversification. Evol Dev 2019; 21:120-134. [PMID: 30999390 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2018] [Revised: 03/03/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Morphological transformations can be generated by evolutionary changes in the sequence of developmental events. In this study, we examined the evolutionary dynamics of the developmental sequence on a macroevolutionary scale in teleosts. Using the information from previous reports describing the development of 31 species, we extracted the developmental sequences of 19 landmark events involving the formation of phylogenetically conserved body parts; we then inferred ancestral developmental sequences by two different parsimony-based methods-event-pairing and continuous analysis. The phylogenetic comparisons of these sequences revealed event-dependent heterogeneity in the frequency of sequence changes. Most of the sequence changes occurred as exchanges of temporally neighboring events. These heterochronic changes in developmental sequences accumulated along evolutionary time, but the precise distribution of the changes over the teleostean phylogeny remains unclear due to technical limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fumihiro Ito
- Mammalian Genetics Laboratory, Genetic Strains Research Center, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan.,Department of Genetics, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Tomotaka Matsumoto
- Department of Genetics, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan.,Division of Evolutionary Genetics, Department of Population Genetics, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Tatsumi Hirata
- Department of Genetics, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan.,Division of Brain Function, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
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12
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Law CJ, Slater GJ, Mehta RS. Shared extremes by ectotherms and endotherms: Body elongation in mustelids is associated with small size and reduced limbs. Evolution 2019; 73:735-749. [PMID: 30793764 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Revised: 02/14/2019] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
An elongate body with reduced or absent limbs has evolved independently in many ectothermic vertebrate lineages. While much effort has been spent examining the morphological pathways to elongation in these clades, quantitative investigations into the evolution of elongation in endothermic clades are lacking. We quantified body shape in 61 musteloid mammals (red panda, skunks, raccoons, and weasels) using the head-body elongation ratio. We also examined the morphological changes that may underlie the evolution toward more extreme body plans. We found that a mustelid clade comprised of the subfamilies Helictidinae, Guloninae, Ictonychinae, Mustelinae, and Lutrinae exhibited an evolutionary transition toward more elongate bodies. Furthermore, we discovered that elongation of the body is associated with the evolution of other key traits such as a reduction in body size and a reduction in forelimb length but not hindlimb length. This relationship between body elongation and forelimb length has not previously been quantitatively established for mammals but is consistent with trends exhibited by ectothermic vertebrates and suggests a common pattern of trait covariance associated with body shape evolution. This study provides the framework for documenting body shapes across a wider range of mammalian clades to better understand the morphological changes influencing shape disparity across all vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris J Law
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Coastal Biology Building, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95060
| | - Graham J Slater
- Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60637
| | - Rita S Mehta
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Coastal Biology Building, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95060
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13
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Neurocranium shape variation of piranhas and pacus (Characiformes: Serrasalmidae) in association with ecology and phylogeny. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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14
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Baliga VB, Mehta RS. Ontogenetic Allometry in Shape and Flexibility Underlies Life History Patterns of Labrid Cleaning Behavior. Integr Comp Biol 2016; 56:416-27. [PMID: 27252204 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icw028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Body shape plays a crucial role in the movement of organisms. In the aquatic environment, the shape of the body, fins, and the underlying axial skeleton reflect the ability of organisms to propel and maneuver through water. Ontogenetic changes in body shape and flexibility of the axial skeleton may coincide with shifts in ecology (e.g., changes in habitat or feeding mode). We use the evolution of cleaning behavior in the Labridae (wrasses and parrotfishes) as a case study. Cleaner fishes are species that remove and consume ectoparasites from other organisms. In many cases, cleaning involves a high degree of maneuverability, as cleaners on the hunt for parasites may continuously dart around the body of their clients. In labrids, at least 58 species are known to clean. Over two-thirds of these species, however, clean predominately as juveniles, exhibiting an ontogenetic shift away from cleaning as they enter adulthood. Using a phylogenetic comparative framework, we examined features of the axial skeleton, overall body shape, and pectoral fin shape in 31 species of labrids spread across four major clades to assess how scaling patterns in these systems are associated with the ontogeny of cleaning behavior. We find that across wrasses, the ontogeny of body shape shows evolutionary concordance with the degree of flexibility across the vertebral column. A key driver of this relationship is that species that shift away from cleaning over ontogeny show stronger positive allometry for body depth and vertebral moment of inertia than other taxa. Species that clean throughout their life histories show a more elongate body and vertebral column, and tend to maintain the combination of these characteristics over ontogeny. Cleaning behavior in labrid fishes is thus an excellent model with which to investigate morphological patterns as they relate to evolution, development, and ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vikram B Baliga
- *Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Rita S Mehta
- *Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
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