Environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons
Characterizing how variation in the tempo and mode of evolution has structured the phenotypic diversity of extant species is a central goal of macroevolution1,2,3. However, studies are typically limited to a handful of traits4,5,6, providing incomplete information. We analyse morphological diversifi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2022
|
| _version_ | 1797109357818675200 |
|---|---|
| author | Navalon, G Bjarnason, A Griffiths, E Benson, RBJ |
| author_facet | Navalon, G Bjarnason, A Griffiths, E Benson, RBJ |
| author_sort | Navalon, G |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Characterizing how variation in the tempo and mode of evolution has structured the phenotypic diversity of extant species is a central goal of macroevolution1,2,3. However, studies are typically limited to a handful of traits4,5,6, providing incomplete information. We analyse morphological diversification in living birds, an ecologically diverse group7, documenting structural scales from ‘pan-skeletal’ proportions down to the localized three-dimensional shape changes of individual bones. We find substantial variation in evolutionary modes among avian subgroups and among skeletal parts, indicating widespread mosaicism and possible differences in the structure of the macroevolutionary landscape across Earth’s main environments. Water-linked groups, especially Aequorlitornithes (waterbirds), have repeatedly explored a large portion of their total morphospace, emphasizing variation in body proportions and in the shape of bones close to the body core, which are functionally related to the mechanics of locomotion8. By contrast, landbirds (Inopinaves) evolved distinct, group-specific body forms early in the aftermath of the K-Pg and subsequently emphasized local shape variation, especially in the head and distal limb bones, which interact more directly with the environment. Passerines, which comprise more than half of all bird species, show a conservative evolutionary dynamic that resulted in low disparity across all skeletal parts. Evidence for early establishment of the morphospace of living birds is clear for some skeletal parts, including beaks and the combined skeletal morphology. However, we find little evidence for early partitioning of that morphospace, contrary to more specific predictions of ‘niche-filling’ models1,9. Nevertheless, early divergence among broad environmental types may have caused an early divergence of evolutionary modes, suggesting an important role for environmental divergence in structuring the radiation of crown-group birds. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:40:45Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:52c50eaf-32b0-44d4-82af-b5742c0aa7f4 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:40:45Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:52c50eaf-32b0-44d4-82af-b5742c0aa7f42023-04-26T08:30:49ZEnvironmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletonsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:52c50eaf-32b0-44d4-82af-b5742c0aa7f4EnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer Nature2022Navalon, GBjarnason, AGriffiths, EBenson, RBJCharacterizing how variation in the tempo and mode of evolution has structured the phenotypic diversity of extant species is a central goal of macroevolution1,2,3. However, studies are typically limited to a handful of traits4,5,6, providing incomplete information. We analyse morphological diversification in living birds, an ecologically diverse group7, documenting structural scales from ‘pan-skeletal’ proportions down to the localized three-dimensional shape changes of individual bones. We find substantial variation in evolutionary modes among avian subgroups and among skeletal parts, indicating widespread mosaicism and possible differences in the structure of the macroevolutionary landscape across Earth’s main environments. Water-linked groups, especially Aequorlitornithes (waterbirds), have repeatedly explored a large portion of their total morphospace, emphasizing variation in body proportions and in the shape of bones close to the body core, which are functionally related to the mechanics of locomotion8. By contrast, landbirds (Inopinaves) evolved distinct, group-specific body forms early in the aftermath of the K-Pg and subsequently emphasized local shape variation, especially in the head and distal limb bones, which interact more directly with the environment. Passerines, which comprise more than half of all bird species, show a conservative evolutionary dynamic that resulted in low disparity across all skeletal parts. Evidence for early establishment of the morphospace of living birds is clear for some skeletal parts, including beaks and the combined skeletal morphology. However, we find little evidence for early partitioning of that morphospace, contrary to more specific predictions of ‘niche-filling’ models1,9. Nevertheless, early divergence among broad environmental types may have caused an early divergence of evolutionary modes, suggesting an important role for environmental divergence in structuring the radiation of crown-group birds. |
| spellingShingle | Navalon, G Bjarnason, A Griffiths, E Benson, RBJ Environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons |
| title | Environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons |
| title_full | Environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons |
| title_fullStr | Environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons |
| title_short | Environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons |
| title_sort | environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT navalong environmentalsignalintheevolutionarydiversificationofbirdskeletons AT bjarnasona environmentalsignalintheevolutionarydiversificationofbirdskeletons AT griffithse environmentalsignalintheevolutionarydiversificationofbirdskeletons AT bensonrbj environmentalsignalintheevolutionarydiversificationofbirdskeletons |