Evolution of skull and mandible shape in cats (Carnivora: Felidae).

ABSTRACT: The felid family consists of two major subgroups, the sabretoothed and the feline cats, to which all extant species belong, and are the most anatomically derived of all carnivores for predation on large prey with a precision killing bite. There has been much controversy and uncertainty about why the skulls and mandibles of sabretoothed and feline cats evolved to become so anatomically divergent, but previous models have focused on single characters and no unifying hypothesis of evolutionary shape changes has been formulated. Here I show that the shape of the skull and mandible in derived sabrecats occupy entirely different positions within overall morphospace from feline cats, and that the evolution of skull and mandible shape has followed very different paths in the two subgroups. When no

SUBMITTER: Christiansen P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2475670 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature