Cranial shape diversification in horses: variation and covariation patterns under the impact of artificial selection.

ABSTRACT: The potential of artificial selection to dramatically impact phenotypic diversity is well known. Large-scale morphological changes in domestic species, emerging over short timescales, offer an accelerated perspective on evolutionary processes. The domestic horse (Equus caballus) provides a striking example of rapid evolution, with major changes in morphology and size likely stemming from artificial selection. However, the microevolutionary mechanisms allowing to generate this variation in a short time interval remain little known. Here, we use 3D geometric morphometrics to quantify skull morphological diversity in the horse, and investigate modularity and integration patterns to understand how morphological associations contribute to cranial evolvability in this taxon. We find that changes

SUBMITTER: Hanot P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8456661 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature