Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India
Abstract Reed bamboo is a major ecological and economic resource for many animals, including humans. Nonetheless, the influence of this plant's evolutionary role on the morphology of animal species remains unexplored. Here, we investigated the significance of bamboo habitats as ecological oppor...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023-09-01
|
| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10493 |
| _version_ | 1827698793910370304 |
|---|---|
| author | Kalpana Das Mark‐Oliver Rödel Edward Stanley Achyuthan N. Srikanthan Kartik Shanker Seenapuram Palaniswamy Vijayakumar |
| author_facet | Kalpana Das Mark‐Oliver Rödel Edward Stanley Achyuthan N. Srikanthan Kartik Shanker Seenapuram Palaniswamy Vijayakumar |
| author_sort | Kalpana Das |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Reed bamboo is a major ecological and economic resource for many animals, including humans. Nonetheless, the influence of this plant's evolutionary role on the morphology of animal species remains unexplored. Here, we investigated the significance of bamboo habitats as ecological opportunities in shaping the skull morphology of bush frogs (Raorchestes) from the Western Ghats, Peninsular India. We applied a three‐dimensional (3D) geometric morphometric approach to capture the skull shape of 55 species of bush frogs. We visualized the skull shape variables in phylomorphospace with principal component analysis and performed phylogenetic generalized least‐squares analysis to assess the impact of cranial size (evolutionary allometry) and habitat (bamboo or non‐bamboo) on cranial shape. We quantified the morphological disparity between bamboo and non‐bamboo bush frogs' skull shape, and employed RRphylo, a phylogenetic ridge regression method, to access the evolutionary rate and rate shifts of skull shape change. The phylomorphospace delineated bamboo and non‐bamboo bush frogs. While cranial shape exhibited a significant but smaller association with size, its association with habitat type was non‐significant. We detected, however, significant differences in skull shape between the two frog groups, with bamboo frogs showing higher morphological disparity and a remarkable shift in the evolutionary rate of skull shape diversification. These findings underscore the role of reed bamboo in the evolution of skull shape in the radiation of frogs, endemic to the Western Ghats. We demonstrate that the association between the members of two distinct endemic clades (bamboo reeds and bamboo frogs) is the outcome of a deep‐time ecological opportunity that dates back to the Miocene. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:37:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ca58928a2d814c3b8a38950985396e95 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:37:07Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-ca58928a2d814c3b8a38950985396e952023-11-21T07:26:25ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582023-09-01139n/an/a10.1002/ece3.10493Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular IndiaKalpana Das0Mark‐Oliver Rödel1Edward Stanley2Achyuthan N. Srikanthan3Kartik Shanker4Seenapuram Palaniswamy Vijayakumar5Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin GermanyMuseum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin GermanyDepartment of Natural History, Florida Museum of Natural History University of Florida Gainesville Florida USACentre for Ecological Sciences Indian Institute of Science Bangalore IndiaCentre for Ecological Sciences Indian Institute of Science Bangalore IndiaCentre for Ecological Sciences Indian Institute of Science Bangalore IndiaAbstract Reed bamboo is a major ecological and economic resource for many animals, including humans. Nonetheless, the influence of this plant's evolutionary role on the morphology of animal species remains unexplored. Here, we investigated the significance of bamboo habitats as ecological opportunities in shaping the skull morphology of bush frogs (Raorchestes) from the Western Ghats, Peninsular India. We applied a three‐dimensional (3D) geometric morphometric approach to capture the skull shape of 55 species of bush frogs. We visualized the skull shape variables in phylomorphospace with principal component analysis and performed phylogenetic generalized least‐squares analysis to assess the impact of cranial size (evolutionary allometry) and habitat (bamboo or non‐bamboo) on cranial shape. We quantified the morphological disparity between bamboo and non‐bamboo bush frogs' skull shape, and employed RRphylo, a phylogenetic ridge regression method, to access the evolutionary rate and rate shifts of skull shape change. The phylomorphospace delineated bamboo and non‐bamboo bush frogs. While cranial shape exhibited a significant but smaller association with size, its association with habitat type was non‐significant. We detected, however, significant differences in skull shape between the two frog groups, with bamboo frogs showing higher morphological disparity and a remarkable shift in the evolutionary rate of skull shape diversification. These findings underscore the role of reed bamboo in the evolution of skull shape in the radiation of frogs, endemic to the Western Ghats. We demonstrate that the association between the members of two distinct endemic clades (bamboo reeds and bamboo frogs) is the outcome of a deep‐time ecological opportunity that dates back to the Miocene.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.104933D geometric morphometryadaptive radiationamphibiaanurabush frogsecological opportunity |
| spellingShingle | Kalpana Das Mark‐Oliver Rödel Edward Stanley Achyuthan N. Srikanthan Kartik Shanker Seenapuram Palaniswamy Vijayakumar Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India Ecology and Evolution 3D geometric morphometry adaptive radiation amphibia anura bush frogs ecological opportunity |
| title | Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India |
| title_full | Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India |
| title_fullStr | Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India |
| title_short | Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India |
| title_sort | reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the western ghats peninsular india |
| topic | 3D geometric morphometry adaptive radiation amphibia anura bush frogs ecological opportunity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10493 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kalpanadas reedbamboosdriveskullshapeevolutioninbushfrogsofthewesternghatspeninsularindia AT markoliverrodel reedbamboosdriveskullshapeevolutioninbushfrogsofthewesternghatspeninsularindia AT edwardstanley reedbamboosdriveskullshapeevolutioninbushfrogsofthewesternghatspeninsularindia AT achyuthannsrikanthan reedbamboosdriveskullshapeevolutioninbushfrogsofthewesternghatspeninsularindia AT kartikshanker reedbamboosdriveskullshapeevolutioninbushfrogsofthewesternghatspeninsularindia AT seenapurampalaniswamyvijayakumar reedbamboosdriveskullshapeevolutioninbushfrogsofthewesternghatspeninsularindia |