Orbit orientation in didelphid marsupials (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae).

ABSTRACT: Usually considered a morphologically conservative group, didelphid marsupials present considerable variation in ecology and body size, some of which were shown to relate to morphological structures. Thus, changes on orbit morphology are likely and could be related to that variation. We calculated orbit orientation in 873 specimens of 16 Didelphidae genera yielding estimates of orbits convergence (their position relative to midsagittal line) and verticality (their position relative to frontal plane). We then compared similarities in these variables across taxa to ecological, morphological and phylogenetic data to evaluate the influencing factors on orbit orientation in didelphids. We found an inverse relation between convergence and verticality. Didelphids orbits have low verticality but ar

SUBMITTER: Pilatti P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5804188 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature