Phylogenetic, ecological, and allometric correlates of cranial shape in Malagasy lemuriforms.
Adaptive radiations provide important insights into many aspects of evolution, including the relationship between ecology and morphological diversification as well as between ecology and speciation. Many such radiations include divergence along a dietary axis, although other ecological variables may also drive diversification, including differences in diel activity patterns. This study examines the role of two key ecological variables, diet and activity patterns, in shaping the radiation of a diverse clade of primates, the Malagasy lemurs. When phylogeny was ignored, activity pattern and several dietary variables predicted a significant proportion of cranial shape variation. However, when phylogeny was taken into account, only typical diet accounted for a significant proportion of shape variation. One possible explanation for this discrepancy is that this radiation was characterized by a relatively small number of dietary shifts (and possibly changes in body size) that occurred in conjunction with the divergence of major clades. This pattern may be difficult to detect with the phylogenetic comparative methods used here, but may characterize not just lemurs but other mammals.
Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, 5th Floor, Stony Brook, New York, 11794; Interdepartmental Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, 11794. Karen.Baab@stonybrook.edu.
Karen L
KL
Baab
Jonathan M G
JM
Perry
F James
FJ
Rohlf
William L
WL
Jungers
D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D017753:Ecosystem; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D010802:Phylogeny; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D011443:Strepsirhini / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
Ecomorphology; geometric morphometrics; lemur systematics; phylogenetic comparative methods; skull evolution