Premium
Digest: Taxonomically inclusive and quantitative tests for convergence*
Author(s) -
Hunter Laura E.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/evo.14288
Subject(s) - biology , convergence (economics) , morphology (biology) , evolutionary biology , taxon , ecology , phylogenetic tree , convergent evolution , simple (philosophy) , zoology , epistemology , genetics , economic growth , philosophy , gene , economics
How common is morphological convergence, and can the cause of convergence be traced to simple ecological categories like diet? Tamagnini et al. use phylogenetic comparative methods and simple morphological data from a large number of Carnivora taxa to investigate whether diet causes convergence in their craniomandibular complex. They find that convergence is less prevalent than expected and that this outcome is likely caused by a complex interplay between biomechanics, ecology, and morphology.