Semi-supervised determination of pseudocryptic morphotypes using observer-free characterizations of anatomical alignment and shape.

ABSTRACT: Accurate, quantitative characterization of complex shapes is recognized as a key methodological challenge in biology. Recent development of automated three-dimensional geometric morphometric protocols (auto3dgm) provides a promising set of tools to help address this challenge. While auto3dgm has been shown to be useful in characterizing variation across clades of morphologically very distinct mammals, it has not been adequately tested in more problematic cases where pseudolandmark placement error potentially confounds interpretation of true shape variation. Here, we tested the sensitivity of auto3dgm to the degree of variation and various parameterization settings using a simulation and three microCT datasets that characterize mammal tooth crown morphology as biological examples. The micro

SUBMITTER: Vitek NS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5528226 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature