The Role of Morphological Integration in the Evolutionary History of Artiodactyla

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

This study asks to what extent different features of the skull are coordinated (integrated) during the growth of individuals, and how the degree of developmental integration exhibited by a species may influence its potential to evolve. It has been argued that a high level of developmental integration would facilitate evolutionary change, albeit in limited directions, because there would be fewer characters going through adaptation independently. This study aims to test this argument directly, by exploring the relationships between developmental integration and diversification patterns throughout the evolutionary history of artiodactyls. Artiodactyls, which include most of our economically important domestic animals, are among the most diverse mammal groups living today, and their evolutionary history has involved a wide range of diversification patterns. Skull shape and integration will be measured for each of the many living and extinct artiodactyl species, thus permitting comparison of developmental integration levels across species and through time. Diversification will be quantified using both morphological and taxonomic indices. The results of this project will have implications for a wide spectrum of studies in evolutionary biology that rely on recognizing independent morphological characters as the basic units of biological change. The proposed study could have implications for conservation biology as well: an understanding of any association between integration and the evolutionary potential of species may help in prioritizing conservation efforts of endangered species. The project will also involve development of novel analytical computer software and collection of new morphometric data, all of which will be deposited in free online archives to facilitate comparable analyses by other researchers and promote collaborations.