Ecological constraints on highly evolvable olfactory receptor genes and morphology in neotropical bats.

ABSTRACT: Although evolvability of genes and traits may promote specialization during species diversification, how ecology subsequently restricts such variation remains unclear. Chemosensation requires animals to decipher a complex chemical background to locate fitness-related resources, and thus the underlying genomic architecture and morphology must cope with constant exposure to a changing odorant landscape; detecting adaptation amidst extensive chemosensory diversity is an open challenge. In phyllostomid bats, an ecologically diverse clade that evolved plant visiting from a presumed insectivorous ancestor, the evolution of novel food detection mechanisms is suggested to be a key innovation, as plant-visiting species rely strongly on olfaction, supplementarily using echolocation. If this is true,

SUBMITTER: Yohe LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9804929 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature