Evidence of strong stabilizing effects on the evolution of boreoeutherian (Mammalia) dental proportions

Ecology and Evolution

卷:9

Peter S. Ungar¹  Christopher A. Schmitt²  Risa Takenaka³  Marianne F. Brasil³  Rena Dvoretzky³  Madeleine E. Zuercher³  Sunwoo Yoo³  Leslea J. Hlusko³  Tesla A. Monson³  Shruti Ravindramurthy³  Michael Zhou³  Selene M. Clay³  Jean‐Renaud Boisserie⁴  Antoine Souron⁵ 

[1] Department of Anthropology University of Arkansas Fayetteville Arkansas;

[2] Department of Anthropology and Biology Boston University Boston Massachusetts;

[3] Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of California Berkeley California;

[4] PALEVOPRIM, CNRS & Université de Poitiers POITIERS Cedex 9 France;

[5] UMR 5199 PACEA Université de Bordeaux PESSAC France;

关键词: Boreoeutheria;    dentition;    diet;    life history;    phylogenetic signal;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.5309

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract The dentition is an extremely important organ in mammals with variation in timing and sequence of eruption, crown morphology, and tooth size enabling a range of behavioral, dietary, and functional adaptations across the class. Within this suite of variable mammalian dental phenotypes, relative sizes of teeth reflect variation in the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms. Two ratios of postcanine tooth lengths capture the relative size of premolars to molars (premolar–molar module, PMM), and among the three molars (molar module component, MMC), and are known to be heritable, independent of body size, and to vary significantly across primates. Here, we explore how these dental traits vary across mammals more broadly, focusing on terrestrial taxa in the clade of Boreoeutheria (Euarchontoglires and Laurasiatheria). We measured the postcanine teeth of N = 1,523 boreoeutherian mammals spanning six orders, 14 families, 36 genera, and 49 species to test hypotheses about associations between dental proportions and phylogenetic relatedness, diet, and life history in mammals. Boreoeutherian postcanine dental proportions sampled in this study carry conserved phylogenetic signal and are not associated with variation in diet. The incorporation of paleontological data provides further evidence that dental proportions may be slower to change than is dietary specialization. These results have implications for our understanding of dental variation and dietary adaptation in mammals.

【 授权许可】

Unknown