The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales
Extreme asymmetry of the skull is one of the most distinctive traits that characterizes toothed whales (Odontoceti, Cetacea). The origin and function of cranial asymmetry are connected to the evolution of echolocation, the ability to use high-frequency sounds to navigate the surrounding environment....
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 2024-06-02T08:04:16+00:00 The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales Lanzetti, Agnese Coombs, Ellen J. Portela Miguez, Roberto Fernandez, Vincent Goswami, Anjali H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Training Partnership 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 289, issue 1980 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2022 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 2024-05-07T14:16:12Z Extreme asymmetry of the skull is one of the most distinctive traits that characterizes toothed whales (Odontoceti, Cetacea). The origin and function of cranial asymmetry are connected to the evolution of echolocation, the ability to use high-frequency sounds to navigate the surrounding environment. Although this novel phenotype must arise through changes in cranial development, the ontogeny of cetacean asymmetry has never been investigated. Here we use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to quantify the changes in degree of asymmetry and skull shape during prenatal and postnatal ontogeny for five genera spanning odontocete diversity (oceanic dolphins, porpoises and beluga). Asymmetry in early ontogeny starts low and tracks phylogenetic relatedness of taxa. Distantly related taxa that share aspects of their ecology overwrite these initial differences via heterochronic shifts, ultimately converging on comparable high levels of skull asymmetry. Porpoises maintain low levels of asymmetry into maturity and present a decelerated rate of growth, probably retained from the ancestral condition. Ancestral state reconstruction of allometric trajectories demonstrates that both paedomorphism and peramorphism contribute to cranial shape diversity across odontocetes. This study provides a striking example of how divergent developmental pathways can produce convergent ecological adaptations, even for some of the most unusual phenotypes exhibited among vertebrates. Article in Journal/Newspaper Beluga Beluga* toothed whales The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 289 1980 |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Extreme asymmetry of the skull is one of the most distinctive traits that characterizes toothed whales (Odontoceti, Cetacea). The origin and function of cranial asymmetry are connected to the evolution of echolocation, the ability to use high-frequency sounds to navigate the surrounding environment. Although this novel phenotype must arise through changes in cranial development, the ontogeny of cetacean asymmetry has never been investigated. Here we use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to quantify the changes in degree of asymmetry and skull shape during prenatal and postnatal ontogeny for five genera spanning odontocete diversity (oceanic dolphins, porpoises and beluga). Asymmetry in early ontogeny starts low and tracks phylogenetic relatedness of taxa. Distantly related taxa that share aspects of their ecology overwrite these initial differences via heterochronic shifts, ultimately converging on comparable high levels of skull asymmetry. Porpoises maintain low levels of asymmetry into maturity and present a decelerated rate of growth, probably retained from the ancestral condition. Ancestral state reconstruction of allometric trajectories demonstrates that both paedomorphism and peramorphism contribute to cranial shape diversity across odontocetes. This study provides a striking example of how divergent developmental pathways can produce convergent ecological adaptations, even for some of the most unusual phenotypes exhibited among vertebrates. |
author2 |
H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Training Partnership |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lanzetti, Agnese Coombs, Ellen J. Portela Miguez, Roberto Fernandez, Vincent Goswami, Anjali |
spellingShingle |
Lanzetti, Agnese Coombs, Ellen J. Portela Miguez, Roberto Fernandez, Vincent Goswami, Anjali The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales |
author_facet |
Lanzetti, Agnese Coombs, Ellen J. Portela Miguez, Roberto Fernandez, Vincent Goswami, Anjali |
author_sort |
Lanzetti, Agnese |
title |
The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales |
title_short |
The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales |
title_full |
The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales |
title_fullStr |
The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales |
title_sort |
ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 |
genre |
Beluga Beluga* toothed whales |
genre_facet |
Beluga Beluga* toothed whales |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 289, issue 1980 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1090 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
289 |
container_issue |
1980 |
_version_ |
1800748903424851968 |