The humerus of South American caviomorph rodents: shape, function and size in a phylogenetic context
Corresponding Author
C. C. Morgan
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Correspondence
Cecilia C. Morgan. Sección Mastozoología, Div. Zoología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/n°, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorA. Álvarez
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
C. C. Morgan
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Correspondence
Cecilia C. Morgan. Sección Mastozoología, Div. Zoología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/n°, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorA. Álvarez
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
South American caviomorph rodents comprise four major lineages encompassing wide taxonomic and ecological diversity, but the morphological diversity of their postcranial skeleton has not been thoroughly explored using phylogenetic comparative methods. The main goal of this work is to analyze their humerus using geometric morphometrics in a phylogenetic context and attempt to tease apart the influence of locomotory preferences and shared evolutionary history on morphological variation. We examined 28 genera in 9 families representing all major clades. Humeral shape was captured by 13 landmarks and four semilandmarks in 2D. In the morphospace of the first two principal components, most taxa were located near the origin along both axes. Fossorial octodontoids were apart from this central group. Most caviids were separated in one extreme of the morphospace; the specialized digging ctenomyid Ctenomys, the fossorial chinchillid Lagostomus and the generalized cavioid Cuniculus were located at the opposite end. Phylogenetic signal was significant. Regressions of shape on size were not significant; regression of shape on habit was significant for raw data and not significant after phylogenetic control. Humeral shape variation was primarily associated with the phylogenetic structure of the group; additionally, some morphological traits were associated with particular habits and interpreted as functional specializations. This association between humeral shape and both phylogeny and habit at different hierarchical levels suggests early ecomorphological diversification of caviomorphs.
Supporting Information
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| jzo12017-sup-0001-fS1.tif6.6 MB | Figure S1. Ordination of 28 extant caviomorph genera in the morphospace defined by the first two principal components (PCs) with the obtained phylogeny superimposed according to reconstructed ancestral values. |
| jzo12017-sup-0002-Appendix1.doc45 KB | Appendix S1. GenBank accession numbers for the 12S, cytb, GHR and TTH gene sequences for caviomorph rodents analysed in this work. |
| jzo12017-sup-0003-Appendix2.doc38.5 KB | Appendix S2. Parameters from the Bayesian analysis of gene sequences used in this work. |
| jzo12017-sup-0004-Appendix3.doc28.5 KB | Appendix S3. Procrustes ANOVA test for measurement error. Individual effect represents overall variation, and Error 1 is the measurement error calculated for repeat measurements. SS: sum of squares; MS: mean squares, d.f.: degrees of freedom; F: F statistic; p: P-value. |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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