High-Density Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Intraspecific Cranial Integration in the Barred Grass Snake (Natrix helvetica) and Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis).

ABSTRACT: How do phenotypic associations intrinsic to an organism, such as developmental and mechanical processes, direct morphological evolution? Comparisons of intraspecific and clade-wide patterns of phenotypic covariation could inform how population-level trends ultimately dictate macroevolutionary changes. However, most studies have focused on analyzing integration and modularity either at macroevolutionary or intraspecific levels, without a shared analytical framework unifying these temporal scales. In this study, we investigate the intraspecific patterns of cranial integration in two squamate species: Natrix helvetica and Anolis carolinensis. We analyze their cranial integration patterns using the same high-density three-dimensional geometric morphometric approach used in a prio

SUBMITTER: Tharakan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10311474 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature