The evolution of femoral cross-sectional properties in sciuromorph rodents: Influence of body mass and locomotor ecology
Corresponding Author
Adrian Scheidt
AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Correspondence
Adrian Scheidt, AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJan Wölfer
AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorJohn A. Nyakatura
AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Adrian Scheidt
AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Correspondence
Adrian Scheidt, AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJan Wölfer
AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorJohn A. Nyakatura
AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorFunding information German Research Council, Grant/Award Number: DFG EXC 1027
Abstract
In several groups of mammals, adaptation to differing functional demands is reflected in long bone cross-sectional properties (CSP), which relate to the resistance to compression and to bending loads in the craniocaudal and mediolateral directions. Members of the Sciuromorpha (“squirrel-like” rodents) display a diversity of locomotor ecologies and span three orders of magnitude in terms of body size. The availability of robust phylogenies is rendering them a suitable group to further substantiate the relationship of long bone CSP with locomotor ecology and body mass while taking the phylogenetic non-independence among species into account. Here, we studied 69 species of Sciuromorpha belonging to three lifestyle categories, “arboreal,” “fossorial,” and “aerial” (i.e., gliding). We hypothesized locomotor category specific loading regimes that act on femora during predominant or, in terms of gliding, critical locomotor behaviors of each category. High resolution computed tomography scans of the specimens' femora were obtained and cross-sections in 5% increments were analyzed. Cross-sectional area, the craniocaudal second moment of area (SMAcc), and the mediolateral second moment of area were quantified. Further, a scaling analysis was conducted for each bone cross-section to examine how the CSP scale with body mass. Body mass accounted for variances in CSP with mainly positive allometry. The aerial sciuromorphs showed lower values of CSP compared to the arboreal and fossorial species in the distal epiphysis for all quantified parameters and along the bone for SMAcc. In contrast to previous studies on other mammalian lineages, no differences in CSP were found between the fossorial and the arboreal lifestyles.
Supporting Information
Filename | Description |
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jmor21007-sup-0001-Tables.docxWord 2007 document , 51.5 KB | Table S1 Phylogenetic signal in the residuals of the scaling analysis according to Blomberg's K. Table S2. Statistics of the scaling analysis. Table S3. Phylogenetic signal in the ordinary least squares regression residuals of pairwise group comparisons according to Blomberg's K. Table S4. Statistics of the pairwise group comparisons of the lifestyle analysis. |
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