The macroevolutionary consequences of phenotypic integration: from development to deep time
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Phenotypic integration is a pervasive characteristic of organisms. Numerous analyses have demonstrated that patterns of phenotypic integration are conserved across large clades, but that significant variation also exists. For example, heterochronic shifts related to different mammalian reproductive strategies are reflected in postcranial skeletal integration and in coordination of bone ossification. Phenotypic integration and modularity have been hypothesized to shape morphological evolution, and we extended simulations to confirm that trait integration can influence both the trajectory and magnitude of response to selection. We further demonstrate that phenotypic integration can produce both more and less disparate organisms than would be expected under random walk models by repartitioning variance in preferred directions. This effect can also be expected to favour homoplasy and convergent evolution. New empirical analyses of the carnivoran cranium show that rates of evolution, in contrast, are not strongly influenced by phenotypic integration and show little relationship to morphological disparity, suggesting that phenotypic integration may shape the direction of evolutionary change, but not necessarily the speed of it. Nonetheless, phenotypic integration is problematic for morphological clocks and should be incorporated more widely into models that seek to accurately reconstruct both trait and organismal evolution.
Authors: A. Goswami, J. B. Smaers, C. Soligo, P. D. Polly
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $1,704
Funders: National Science Foundation, American Museum of Natural History, University of Chicago, Field Museum, Royal Society, University of New South Wales, National Museum of Natural History, Natural Environment Research Council, Office of International Science and Engineering, University of California Museum of Paleontology
Awards: Modularity and Metamorphosis: the effect of complex life history on cranial integration, DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Evolution of Morphological Integration in the Mammalian Skull, Morphological clocks: Quantifying module- and lineage-specific variation in rates of morphological evolution in the primate skull, International Research Fellowship Program: Ontogenetic and Evolutionary Shape Variation and Modularity in the Mammalian Skull
OpenAlex ID: W2158213278