Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds
Cranial morphology in birds is thought to be shaped by adaptive evolution for foraging performance. This understanding of ecomorphological evolution is supported by observations of avian island radiations, such as Darwin's finches, which display rapid evolution of skull shape in response to foo...
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ftucl:oai:eprints.ucl.ac.uk.OAI2:10070395 2023-12-24T10:15:09+01:00 Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds Pigot, A Felice, R Goswami, A Tobias, J 2019-02-20 text https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070395/1/Felice%20et%20al.%202019.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070395/ eng eng Royal Society, The https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070395/1/Felice%20et%20al.%202019.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070395/ open Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 286 (1897) (2019) (In press). niche macroevolution diet cranial morphology Article 2019 ftucl 2023-11-27T13:07:28Z Cranial morphology in birds is thought to be shaped by adaptive evolution for foraging performance. This understanding of ecomorphological evolution is supported by observations of avian island radiations, such as Darwin's finches, which display rapid evolution of skull shape in response to food resource availability and a strong fit between cranial phenotype and trophic ecology. However, a recent analysis of larger clades has suggested that diet is not necessarily a primary driver of cranial shape and that phylogeny and allometry are more significant factors in skull evolution. We use phenome-scale morphometric data across the breadth of extant bird diversity to test the influence of diet and foraging behaviour in shaping cranial evolution. We demonstrate that these trophic characters are significant but very weak predictors of cranial form at this scale. However, dietary groups exhibit significantly different rates of morphological evolution across multiple cranial regions. Granivores and nectarivores exhibit the highest rates of evolution in the face and cranial vault, whereas terrestrial carnivores evolve the slowest. The basisphenoid, occipital, and jaw joint regions have less extreme differences among dietary groups. These patterns demonstrate that dietary niche shapes the tempo and mode of phenotypic evolution in deep time, despite a weaker than expected form–function relationship across large clades. Article in Journal/Newspaper Avian Island University College London: UCL Discovery Avian Island ENVELOPE(-68.891,-68.891,-67.772,-67.772) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University College London: UCL Discovery |
op_collection_id |
ftucl |
language |
English |
topic |
niche macroevolution diet cranial morphology |
spellingShingle |
niche macroevolution diet cranial morphology Pigot, A Felice, R Goswami, A Tobias, J Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds |
topic_facet |
niche macroevolution diet cranial morphology |
description |
Cranial morphology in birds is thought to be shaped by adaptive evolution for foraging performance. This understanding of ecomorphological evolution is supported by observations of avian island radiations, such as Darwin's finches, which display rapid evolution of skull shape in response to food resource availability and a strong fit between cranial phenotype and trophic ecology. However, a recent analysis of larger clades has suggested that diet is not necessarily a primary driver of cranial shape and that phylogeny and allometry are more significant factors in skull evolution. We use phenome-scale morphometric data across the breadth of extant bird diversity to test the influence of diet and foraging behaviour in shaping cranial evolution. We demonstrate that these trophic characters are significant but very weak predictors of cranial form at this scale. However, dietary groups exhibit significantly different rates of morphological evolution across multiple cranial regions. Granivores and nectarivores exhibit the highest rates of evolution in the face and cranial vault, whereas terrestrial carnivores evolve the slowest. The basisphenoid, occipital, and jaw joint regions have less extreme differences among dietary groups. These patterns demonstrate that dietary niche shapes the tempo and mode of phenotypic evolution in deep time, despite a weaker than expected form–function relationship across large clades. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pigot, A Felice, R Goswami, A Tobias, J |
author_facet |
Pigot, A Felice, R Goswami, A Tobias, J |
author_sort |
Pigot, A |
title |
Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds |
title_short |
Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds |
title_full |
Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds |
title_fullStr |
Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds |
title_sort |
dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds |
publisher |
Royal Society, The |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070395/1/Felice%20et%20al.%202019.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070395/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.891,-68.891,-67.772,-67.772) |
geographic |
Avian Island |
geographic_facet |
Avian Island |
genre |
Avian Island |
genre_facet |
Avian Island |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 286 (1897) (2019) (In press). |
op_relation |
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070395/1/Felice%20et%20al.%202019.pdf https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070395/ |
op_rights |
open |
_version_ |
1786201850129678336 |