Size, microhabitat, and loss of larval feeding drive cranial diversification in frogs.

ABSTRACT: Habitat is one of the most important factors shaping organismal morphology, but it may vary across life history stages. Ontogenetic shifts in ecology may introduce antagonistic selection that constrains adult phenotype, particularly with ecologically distinct developmental phases such as the free-living, feeding larval stage of many frogs (Lissamphibia: Anura). We test the relative influences of developmental and ecological factors on the diversification of adult skull morphology with a detailed analysis of 15 individual cranial regions across 173 anuran species, representing every extant family. Skull size, adult microhabitat, larval feeding, and ossification timing are all significant factors shaping aspects of cranial evolution in frogs, with late-ossifying elements showing the greatest

SUBMITTER: Bardua C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8096824 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature