Morphological integration in the appendicular skeleton of two domestic taxa: the horse and donkey.

ABSTRACT: Organisms are organized into suites of anatomical structures that typically covary when developmentally or functionally related, and this morphological integration plays a determinant role in evolutionary processes. Artificial selection on domestic species causes strong morphological changes over short time spans, frequently resulting in a wide and exaggerated phenotypic diversity. This raises the question of whether integration constrains the morphological diversification of domestic species and how natural and artificial selection may impact integration patterns. Here, we study the morphological integration in the appendicular skeleton of domestic horses and donkeys, using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics on 75 skeletons. Our results indicate that a strong integration is inherit

SUBMITTER: Hanot P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5647294 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature