Journal article

Size, not phylogeny, explains the morphology of the endosseous labyrinth in the crown clade Crocodylia

DOKPE

Show more…
  • 2024
Published in:
  • Journal of Anatomy. - Wiley. - 2024, vol. 246, no. 4, p. 558-574
English The endosseous labyrinths are associated with several functions, including hearing and spatial orientation. Throughout their evolutionary history, crocodylomorphs have thrived in diverse environments, and the morphology of their endosseous labyrinths has been suggested as a proxy for inferring their lifestyle. However, the relationships between the shape of their endosseous labyrinths and ontogenetic and phylogenetic factors are difficult to interpret and have rarely been investigated in depth previously, particularly in terms of dataset size. Here, we present the most complete dataset to date on the endosseous labyrinths of extant crocodylians, including 111 specimens covering 22 species of different ontogenetic status (from hatchlings to adults). Using 3D geometric morphometrics, we show that allometry constitutes a major contributor of the shape variation of the crocodylian endosseous labyrinths and that the development of this structure is likely linked to the braincase conformation, in all extant genera. We also find a moderate phylogenetic signal, but only without considering the size effect, so it could not be translated into relevant discrete morphological characters. Based on these results, we discuss several remaining problems that prevent the inclusion of fossil forms with highly divergent lifestyles to study how ecological differences shaped the endosseous labyrinths of crocodylomorphs.
Faculty
Faculté des sciences et de médecine
Department
Département des Géosciences
Language
  • English
Classification
Palaeontology
License
CC BY-NC-ND
Open access status
hybrid
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/331972
Statistics

Document views: 4 File downloads:
  • journalofanatomy-2024-pochatcottilloux-sizenotphylogenyexplainsthemorphologyoftheendosseouslabyrinthin.pdf: 5