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Geometric morphometric investigation of size and shape in prosimian molar morphology: incorporating phylogeny into allometric analyses
Author(s) -
St Clair Elizabeth,
Boyer Doug,
Baab Karen,
Perry Jonathan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.449.2
Subject(s) - allometry , phylogenetic tree , prosimian , phylogenetic comparative methods , phylogenetics , biology , morphology (biology) , evolutionary biology , primate , principal component analysis , zoology , variation (astronomy) , clade , mathematics , statistics , lemur , ecology , gene , biochemistry , physics , astrophysics
Previous published statistical analyses of allometric variation in primate molar form have not included phylogenetic information. Some primate clades and dietary groups differ in average body size; thus, observed associations between size and morphological variation might be due to evolutionary history and/or diet. We examined 3D μCT generated surfaces of mandibular second molars of 26 prosimian taxa (n=69) to test if shape variation is correlated with size variation taking phylogeny into account. We positioned 41 landmarks and semilandmarks on cusps and crests. After superimposition via generalized Procrustes analysis, principal components (PC) analysis was used to explore shape variation. Species means were then calculated for the first 10 PCs. In a phylogeny‐free least squares analysis, PC1 (37.7% of the variance) and PC3 (12.0%) were significantly correlated with tooth size (= ln centroid size). In a Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares analysis, only PC3 had a statistically significant relationship with tooth size (R 2 = .2496, p<0.05). This result suggests that some resemblances in molar shape among taxa of similar tooth size may reflect shared phylogenetic history rather than size‐required constraints on shape. Phylogenetic relationships should be considered in future analyses of allometric variation in the dentition. Grant Funding Source : American Society of Mammalogists grant to ESC, Evolving Earth Foundation Grant and NSF DIG (BCS‐062254) to DB