Navalón, G., Marugán-Lobón, J., Bright, J.A. et al. (2 more authors) (2020) The consequences of craniofacial integration for the adaptive radiations of Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 4 (2). pp. 270-278.
Abstract
The diversifications of Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers are two text-book examples of adaptive radiation in birds. Why these two bird groups radiated while the remaining endemic birds in these two archipelagos exhibit relatively low diversity and disparity remains unexplained. Ecological factors have failed to provide a convincing answer to this phenomenon, and some intrinsic causes connected to craniofacial evolution have been hypothesized. The tight coevolution of the beak and the remainder of the skull in diurnal raptors and parrots suggests that integration may be the prevalent condition in landbirds (Inopinaves). This is in contrast with the archetypal relationship between beak shape and ecology in Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers, which suggests that the beak can adapt as a distinct module in these birds. Modularity has therefore been proposed to underpin the adaptive radiation of these groups, allowing the beak to evolve more rapidly and freely in response to ecological opportunity. Here, using geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods in a broad sample of landbird skulls, we show that craniofacial evolution in Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers seems to be characterized by a tighter coevolution of the beak and the rest of the skull (cranial integration) than in most landbird lineages, with rapid and extreme morphological evolution of both skull regions along constrained directions of phenotypic space. These patterns are unique among landbirds, including other sympatric island radiations, and therefore counter previous hypotheses by showing that tighter cranial integration, not only modularity, can facilitate evolution along adaptive directions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 The Authors. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Animal and Plant Sciences (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Leverhulme Trust (The) ECF-2018-101 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Feb 2020 11:45 |
Last Modified: | 03 Aug 2020 00:41 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41559-019-1092-y |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:157037 |