Signatures of echolocation and dietary ecology in the adaptive evolution of skull shape in bats.

ABSTRACT: Morphological diversity may arise rapidly as a result of adaptation to novel ecological opportunities, but early bursts of trait evolution are rarely observed. Rather, models of discrete shifts between adaptive zones may better explain macroevolutionary dynamics across radiations. To investigate which of these processes underlie exceptional levels of morphological diversity during ecological diversification, we use modern phylogenetic tools and 3D geometric morphometric datasets to examine adaptive zone shifts in bat skull shape. Here we report that, while disparity was established early, bat skull evolution is best described by multiple adaptive zone shifts. Shifts are partially decoupled between the cranium and mandible, with cranial evolution more strongly driven by echolocation than di

SUBMITTER: Arbour JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6497661 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature