Size matters: micro-evolution in Polynesian rats highlights body size changes as initial stage in evolution.

ABSTRACT: Microevolutionary patterns in populations of introduced rodent species have often been the focus of analytic studies for their potential relevance to understanding vertebrate evolution. The Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) is an excellent proxy species because of its wide geographic and temporal distribution: its native and introduced combined range spans half the globe and it has been living for at least seven centuries wherever it was introduced. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of long-term isolation (insularity; up to 4,000 years) and geographic variables on skull shape variation using geometric morphometrics. A sample of 513 specimens from 103 islands and four mainland areas was analysed. This study, to my knowledge the first to extensively sample introduced

SUBMITTER: van der Geer AAE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7194086 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature