Morphological modularity and assessment of developmental processes within the vole dental row (Microtus arvalis, Arvicolinae, Rodentia).

• Published in: Evolution & Development
• Main Authors: Laffont, Rémi, Renvoisé, Elodie, Navarro, Nicolas, Alibert, Paul, Montuire, Sophie
• Other Authors: Biogéosciences UMR 6282 (BGS), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona = Autonomous University of Barcelona = Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Work supported by a doctoral Fellowship (Grant MENRT, Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, France), and by a Beatriu de Pinós postdoc grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain).
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: [SDV.BID]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity; [SDV.BDD]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Development Biology; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00381828; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-142X.2009.00332.x

10 pages International audience Knowledge of mammalian tooth formation is increasing, through numerous genetic and developmental studies. The prevalence of teeth in fossil remains has led to an intensive description of evolutionary patterns within and among lineages based on tooth morphology. The extent to which developmental processes have influenced tooth morphologies and therefore the role of these processes in these evolutionary patterns are nonetheless challenging. Recent methodological advances have been proposed allowing the inference of developmental processes from adult morphologies and the characterization of the degree of developmental integration/modularity of morphological traits by studying the patterns of variation within and among individuals. This study focuses on the geometric shape of the lower molars of the vole species Microtus arvalis. Our results suggest (i) quasi-independence of each molar at the developmental level (developmental modules), even slightly stronger for the third molar supporting some genetic and developmental hypotheses and (ii) more pervasive integration processes among molars at the morphological level.