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Going out on a limb: functional and developmental integration in human limb long bones
Author(s) -
Auerbach Benjamin Miller,
DeLeon Valerie Burke
Publication year - 2013
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.27.1_supplement.755.11
Subject(s) - modularity (biology) , independence (probability theory) , covariance , constraint (computer aided design) , biology , evolutionary biology , anatomy , mathematics , geometry , statistics
Morphological integration (MI) describes the covariance of phenotypes, which in turn reveals information about shared genetic and developmental pathways underlying those phenotypes, as well as functional correlations. Previous research on MI in the elements of the limbs has focused on murine models and on comparisons among primates. The latter studies demonstrate an increase in the independence of long bone lengths among apes, especially humans. However, no research has examined integration among multiple dimensions—lengths, articulations, and diaphyses—in human limb bones. This study examines external linear dimensions taken from lengths, articulations, and diaphyses of humeri, radii, femora and tibiae, using a global sample of 3625 human skeletons. Eigenvalue variances and covariance matrix comparisons were used to assess MI and modularity. Results show that similar dimensions (e.g., lengths) among homologous elements are more integrated than elements in the same limb. Lengths have the highest MI. There is independence between diaphyseal dimensions and lengths, corroborating previous findings. This indicates different sources of constraint on these morphologies from developmental and functional factors.