Mandibular and cranial modularity in the greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae)
2015
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Приказ свих података о документуАпстракт:
We report the first evaluation of mandibular and cranial modularity in
the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum). Although some
authors found no modular pattern of these morphological structures in
mammals, we discovered that traits integration in R. ferrumequinum is
not uniform throughout the mandible and cranium, but structured into two
distinct modules. Allometry does not affect mandibular and cranial
modularity in R. ferrumequinum probably as a result of the low fraction
of shape variation explained by size. Observed at the static level,
mandible and cranium modularity in this species could be either
functional or developmental or both, but we cannot rule out a genetic
nature for underlying mandibular and cranial trait interactions.
Evolutionary modularity among related taxa is influenced by genetic and
functional modularity. Therefore, future studies on cranial integration
and modularity at multiple levels of variation may shed more light on
these important features of morphological variability in bats, including
R. ferrumequinum.
Кључне речи:
Cranium; geometric morphometrics; mandible; modules; morphological integrationИзвор:
Hystrix-Italian Journal of Mammalogy, 2015, 26, 2, 163-165
DOI: 10.4404/hystrix-26.2-11245
ISSN: 0394-1914