Geometric morphometric study of the skull shape diversification in Sciuridae(Mammalia,Rodentia)

作     者：Xuefei LU Deyan GE Lin XIA Chengming HUANG Qisen YANG 

作者机构：Institute of ZoologyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina and 2Graduate University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina 

出 版 物：《Integrative Zoology》 (整合动物学（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2014年第9卷第3期

页      面：231-245页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 071002[理学-动物学] 

基　　金：Our research is sponsored by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China(No:31272289,31172065,31101629,J1210002) a grant(Y229YX5105)from the Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evo­lution of the Chinese Academy of Sciences 

主　　题：adaptation allometry geometric morphometrics phylogeny Sciuridae 

摘      要：It is generally accepted that the high phenotypic diversity of mammals is a combined result of developmental constraint and ecological adaptation, although the influence of these endogenous and exogenous factors varies in different mammal groups. The rodent family Sciuridae represents an ideal candidate for examining phenotyp­ic diversity in relation to phylogeny and ecological adaptations. In the present study, we investigate the effects of phylogeny and lifestyle on the skull shape in different species of Sciuridae by applying geometric morpho­metric methods. In addition, we investigate the importance of allometry on sciurid skull shape, because results from geometric morphometrics sometimes dispute those of traditional morphometry. Here, we identify signif­icant associations between patristic distances obtained from molecular phylogeny and shape distances in all 3 views of the cranium and the lateral view of the mandible. Multivariate regression demonstrates that shape dif­ferences among lifestyle categories are substantial, especially in the dorsal and ventral structures after the in­fluence of phylogeny is taken into account. Allometry plays an important role in the shape variation, although its importance on different skull structures varies. Our results indicate that complex structures of this highly di­verse mammal group, which occupies different niches, are affected by ecological factors and developmental constraint.