Patterns of morphological integration in the appendicular skeleton of mammalian carnivores.
We investigated patterns of evolutionary integration in the appendicular skeleton of mammalian carnivores. The findings are discussed in relation to performance selection in terms of organismal function as a potential mechanism underlying integration. Interspecific shape covariation was quantified by two-block partial least-squares (2B-PLS) analysis of 3D landmark data within a phylogenetic context. Specifically, we compared pairs of anatomically connected bones (within-limbs) and pairs of both serially homologous and functional equivalent bones (between-limbs). The statistical results of all the comparisons suggest that the carnivoran appendicular skeleton is highly integrated. Strikingly, the main shape covariation relates to bone robustness in all cases. A bootstrap test was used to compare the degree of integration between specialized cursorial taxa (i.e., those whose forelimbs are primarily involved in locomotion) and noncursorial species (i.e., those whose forelimbs are involved in more functions than their hindlimb) showed that cursors have a more integrated appendicular skeleton than noncursors. The findings demonstrate that natural selection can influence the pattern and degree of morphological integration by increasing the degree of bone shape covariation in parallel to ecological specialization.
Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 20971-Málaga, Spain. almarse@uma.es.
Alberto
A
Martín-Serra
Borja
B
Figueirido
Juan Antonio
JA
Pérez-Claros
Paul
P
Palmqvist
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049628:Body Size; D050281:Bones of Lower Extremity / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D001133:Bones of Upper Extremity / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D002335:Carnivora / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008124:Locomotion; D010802:Phylogeny
Appendicular skeleton; carnivorans; cursorial; locomotion; morphological integration; morphometrics