Journal article
Why the short face? Developmental disintegration of the neurocranium drives convergent evolution in neotropical electric fishes
Ecology and evolution, Vol.7(6), pp.1783-1801
03/2017
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2704
PMCID: PMC5355199
PMID: 28331588
Abstract
Convergent evolution is widely viewed as strong evidence for the influence of natural selection on the origin of phenotypic design. However, the emerging evo-devo synthesis has highlighted other processes that may bias and direct phenotypic evolution in the presence of environmental and genetic variation. Developmental biases on the production of phenotypic variation may channel the evolution of convergent forms by limiting the range of phenotypes produced during ontogeny. Here, we study the evolution and convergence of brachycephalic and dolichocephalic skull shapes among 133 species of Neotropical electric fishes (Gymnotiformes: Teleostei) and identify potential developmental biases on phenotypic evolution. We plot the ontogenetic trajectories of neurocranial phenotypes in 17 species and document developmental modularity between the face and braincase regions of the skull. We recover a significant relationship between developmental covariation and relative skull length and a significant relationship between developmental covariation and ontogenetic disparity. We demonstrate that modularity and integration bias the production of phenotypes along the brachycephalic and dolichocephalic skull axis and contribute to multiple, independent evolutionary transformations to highly brachycephalic and dolichocephalic skull morphologies.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Why the short face? Developmental disintegration of the neurocranium drives convergent evolution in neotropical electric fishes
- Creators
- Kory M. Evans - University of Louisiana at LafayetteBrandon Waltz - University of Louisiana at LafayetteVictor Tagliacollo - Univ Fed Tocantins, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Ambiente CIAMB, BR-77001090 Palmas, Tocantins, BrazilProsanta Chakrabarty - Louisiana State UniversityJames S. Albert - University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Ecology and evolution, Vol.7(6), pp.1783-1801
- DOI
- 10.1002/ece3.2704
- PMID
- 28331588
- PMCID
- PMC5355199
- NLM abbreviation
- Ecol Evol
- ISSN
- 2045-7758
- eISSN
- 2045-7758
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 19
- Grant note
- 1354511 / Direct For Biological Sciences; Division Of Environmental Biology; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) 0614334; 0741450 / Division Of Environmental Biology; Direct For Biological Sciences; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) 0614334; 0741450; 1354511 / Division of Environmental Biology; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/2017
- Academic Unit
- Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9984936618102771
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