Ecosystem size predicts eco-morphological variability in a postglacial diversification.

ABSTRACT: Identifying the processes by which new phenotypes and species emerge has been a long-standing effort in evolutionary biology. Young adaptive radiations provide a model to study patterns of morphological and ecological diversification in environmental context. Here, we use the recent radiation (ca. 12k years old) of the freshwater fish Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) to identify abiotic and biotic environmental factors associated with adaptive morphological variation. Arctic charr are exceptionally diverse, and in postglacial lakes there is strong evidence of repeated parallel evolution of similar morphologies associated with foraging. We measured head depth (a trait reflecting general eco-morphology and foraging ecology) of 1,091 individuals across 30 lake populations to test whet

SUBMITTER: Recknagel H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5552947 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature