McIntosh, Andrew and Cox, Philip Graham orcid.org/0000-0001-9782-2358 (2019) The impact of digging on the evolution of the rodent mandible. Journal of morphology. pp. 176-183. ISSN 0362-2525
Abstract
There are two main (but not mutually exclusive) methods by which subterranean rodents construct burrows: chisel-tooth digging, where large incisors are used to dig through soil; and scratch digging, where forelimbs and claws are used to dig instead of incisors. A previous study by the authors showed that upper incisors of chisel-tooth diggers were better adapted to dig but the overall cranial morphology within the rodent sample was not significantly different. This study analyzed the lower incisors and mandibles of the specimens used in the previous study to show the impact of chisel-tooth digging on the rodent mandible. We compared lower incisors and mandibular shape of chisel-tooth digging rodents with nonchisel-tooth digging rodents to see if there were morphological differences between the two groups. The shape of incisors was quantified using incisor radius of curvature and second moment of area (SMA). Mandibular shape was quantified using landmark based geometric morphometrics. We found that lower incisor shape was strongly influenced by digging group using a Generalized Phylogenetic ancova (analysis of covariance). A phylogenetic Procrustes anova (analysis of variance) showed that mandibular shape of chisel-tooth digging rodents was also significantly different from nonchisel-tooth digging rodents. The phylogenetic signal of incisor radius of curvature was weak, whereas that of incisor SMA and mandibular shape was significant. This is despite the analyses revealing significant differences in the shape of both mandibles and incisors between digging groups. In conclusion, we showed that although the mandible and incisor of rodents are influenced by function, there is also a degree of phylogenetic affinity that shapes the rodent mandibular apparatus.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Keywords: | geometric morphometrics,phylogenetic comparative methods,rodent mandibular morphology |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Hull York Medical School (York) The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Archaeology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 05 Dec 2018 12:00 |
Last Modified: | 27 Nov 2024 00:33 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20929 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/jmor.20929 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:139601 |
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