Morphological modularity in the vertebral column of Felidae (Mammalia, Carnivora). 2017

Marcela Randau, and Anjali Goswami
Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. m.randau@ucl.ac.uk.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the clear morphological differences among vertebrae across the presacral column are accompanied by heterogeneous functional signals in vertebral shape. Further, several lines of evidence suggest that the mammalian axial skeleton is a highly modular structure. These include its composition of serial units, a trade-off between high shape variance and strong conservation of vertebral count, and direct association of regions with anterior expression sites of Hox genes. Here we investigate the modular organisation of the presacral vertebral column of modern cats (Felidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) with pairwise comparisons of vertebral shape covariation (i.e. integration) and evaluate our results against hypotheses of developmental and functional modularity. We used three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to quantify vertebral shape and then assessed integration between pairs of vertebrae with phylogenetic two-block partial least square analysis (PLS). Six modules were identified in the pairwise analyses (vertebrae included are designated as 'C' for cervical, 'T' for thoracic, and 'L' for lumbar): an anterior module (C1 to T1); a transitional module situated between the last cervicals and first thoracics (C6 to T2); an anterior to middle thoracic set (T4 to T8); an anticlinal module (T10 and T11); a posterior set composed of the last two thoracics and lumbars (T12 to L7); and a module showing covariation between the cervicals and the posterior set (T12 to L7). These modules reflect shared developmental pathways, ossification timing, and observed ecological shape diversification in living species of felids. We show here that patterns of shape integration reflect modular organisation of the vertebral column of felids. Whereas this pattern corresponds with hypotheses of developmental and functional regionalisation in the axial skeleton, it does not simply reflect major vertebral regions. This modularity may also have permitted vertebral partitions, specifically in the posterior vertebral column, to be more responsive to selection and achieve higher morphological disparity than other vertebral regions.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008322 Mammals Warm-blooded vertebrate animals belonging to the class Mammalia, including all that possess hair and suckle their young. Mammalia,Mammal
D010802 Phylogeny The relationships of groups of organisms as reflected by their genetic makeup. Community Phylogenetics,Molecular Phylogenetics,Phylogenetic Analyses,Phylogenetic Analysis,Phylogenetic Clustering,Phylogenetic Comparative Analysis,Phylogenetic Comparative Methods,Phylogenetic Distance,Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares,Phylogenetic Groups,Phylogenetic Incongruence,Phylogenetic Inference,Phylogenetic Networks,Phylogenetic Reconstruction,Phylogenetic Relatedness,Phylogenetic Relationships,Phylogenetic Signal,Phylogenetic Structure,Phylogenetic Tree,Phylogenetic Trees,Phylogenomics,Analyse, Phylogenetic,Analysis, Phylogenetic,Analysis, Phylogenetic Comparative,Clustering, Phylogenetic,Community Phylogenetic,Comparative Analysis, Phylogenetic,Comparative Method, Phylogenetic,Distance, Phylogenetic,Group, Phylogenetic,Incongruence, Phylogenetic,Inference, Phylogenetic,Method, Phylogenetic Comparative,Molecular Phylogenetic,Network, Phylogenetic,Phylogenetic Analyse,Phylogenetic Clusterings,Phylogenetic Comparative Analyses,Phylogenetic Comparative Method,Phylogenetic Distances,Phylogenetic Group,Phylogenetic Incongruences,Phylogenetic Inferences,Phylogenetic Network,Phylogenetic Reconstructions,Phylogenetic Relatednesses,Phylogenetic Relationship,Phylogenetic Signals,Phylogenetic Structures,Phylogenetic, Community,Phylogenetic, Molecular,Phylogenies,Phylogenomic,Reconstruction, Phylogenetic,Relatedness, Phylogenetic,Relationship, Phylogenetic,Signal, Phylogenetic,Structure, Phylogenetic,Tree, Phylogenetic
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013131 Spine The spinal or vertebral column. Spinal Column,Vertebrae,Vertebral Column,Vertebra,Column, Spinal,Column, Vertebral,Columns, Spinal,Columns, Vertebral,Spinal Columns,Vertebral Columns
D016018 Least-Squares Analysis A principle of estimation in which the estimates of a set of parameters in a statistical model are those quantities minimizing the sum of squared differences between the observed values of a dependent variable and the values predicted by the model. Rietveld Refinement,Analysis, Least-Squares,Least Squares,Analyses, Least-Squares,Analysis, Least Squares,Least Squares Analysis,Least-Squares Analyses,Refinement, Rietveld
D045989 Felidae The cat family in the order CARNIVORA comprised of muscular, deep-chested terrestrial carnivores with a highly predatory lifestyle. Leopardus pardalis,Neofelis nebulosa,Ocelots,Leopards, Clouded,Clouded Leopard,Clouded Leopards,Leopard, Clouded,Ocelot

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