Morphometric Analysis of Cranial Shape in Fossil and Recent Euprimates
Joint Authors
Bennett, C. Verity
Goswami, Anjali
Source
Anatomy Research International
Issue
Vol. 2012, Issue 2012 (31 Dec. 2012), pp.1-7, 7 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2012-05-07
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
7
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
Quantitative analysis of morphology allows for identification of subtle evolutionary patterns or convergences in anatomy that can aid ecological reconstructions of extinct taxa.
This study explores diversity and convergence in cranial morphology across living and fossil primates using geometric morphometrics.
33 3D landmarks were gathered from 34 genera of euprimates (382 specimens), including the Eocene adapiforms Adapis and Leptadapis and Quaternary lemurs Archaeolemur, Palaeopropithecus, and Megaladapis.
Landmark data was treated with Procrustes superimposition to remove all nonshape differences and then subjected to principal components analysis and linear discriminant function analysis.
Haplorhines and strepsirrhines were well separated in morphospace along the major components of variation, largely reflecting differences in relative skull length and width and facial depth.
Most adapiforms fell within or close to strepsirrhine space, while Quaternary lemurs deviated from extant strepsirrhines, either exploring new regions of morphospace or converging on haplorhines.
Fossil taxa significantly increased the area of morphospace occupied by strepsirrhines.
However, recent haplorhines showed significantly greater cranial disparity than strepsirrhines, even with the inclusion of the unusual Quaternary lemurs, demonstrating that differences in primate cranial disparity are likely real and not simply an artefact of recent megafaunal extinctions.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Bennett, C. Verity& Goswami, Anjali. 2012. Morphometric Analysis of Cranial Shape in Fossil and Recent Euprimates. Anatomy Research International،Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-7.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-474756
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Bennett, C. Verity& Goswami, Anjali. Morphometric Analysis of Cranial Shape in Fossil and Recent Euprimates. Anatomy Research International No. 2012 (2012), pp.1-7.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-474756
American Medical Association (AMA)
Bennett, C. Verity& Goswami, Anjali. Morphometric Analysis of Cranial Shape in Fossil and Recent Euprimates. Anatomy Research International. 2012. Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-7.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-474756
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-474756