From Parasitized to Healthy-Looking Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Morphological Reconstruction Using Algorithmic Processing.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Parasites cause predictable alternative phenotypes of host individuals. Investigating these parasitogenic phenotypes may be essential in cases where parasitism is common or taxa is described based on a parasitized individual. Ignoring them could lead to erroneous conclusions in biodiversity-focused research, taxonomy, evolution, and ecology. However, to date, integrating alternative phenotypes into a set of wild-type individuals in morphometric analysis poses extraordinary challenges to experts. This paper presents an approach for reconstructing the putative healthy morphology of parasitized ants using algorithmic processing. Our concept enables the integration of alternative parasitogenic phenotypes in morphometric analyses.

Methods

We tested the applicability of

SUBMITTER: Csosz S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9145562 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature