Evolution of skull shape in extinct and extant turtles

• Grant number: 19/02086-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2019
• End date: March 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Max Cardoso Langer
• Grantee: Guilherme Hermanson Souza
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/21787-5 - Ecomorphological patterns of the palatal region in the turtle skull (Reptilia, Testudinata), BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Ecomorphological studies associate morphological (e.g. body size) and ecological (e.g. diet) patterns, being vertebrates widely used as models. Among them, turtles (Testudines) have been little explored in this regard. Turtles occupy a great diversity of environments, from fully aquatic (freshwater and marine) to terrestrial, which allows them access to different sorts of resources. Similarly, their wide phenotypic variation of skull shape is noteworthy, supposedly related to different environmental pressures along their evolutionary history. In order to test the correlations between morphology and ecology, geometric morphometrics can be an important tool and, when analysed on a phylogenetic background, allows to reconstruct the different evolutionary paths that shaped the turtle skull. The project will investigate the evolution of the skull shape in Testudines using virtual models of skull generated by computed tomography and 3D geometric morphometrics. With this method, the 3D aspects of the skull are analysed altogether, allowing a more accurate capture of the specimens geometry. The aim of this work is to evaluate whether ecological features of turtles such as diet and habitat influence their skull shape. Additionally, we expect to do a more accurate estimate of the ecology of the analysed fossil taxa, previously inferred mainly by 2D (e.g. photographs) and qualitative data. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

EVERS, SERJOSCHA W.; JOYCE, WALTER G.; CHOINIERE, JONAH N.; FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; FOTH, CHRISTIAN; HERMANSON, GUILHERME; YI, HONGYU; JOHNSON, CATHERINE M.; WERNEBURG, INGMAR; BENSON, ROGER B. J.. Independent origin of large labyrinth size in turtles. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, v. 13, n. 1, p. 15-pg., 2022-10-11. (19/02086-6, 16/03373-0)

HERMANSON, GUILHERME; BENSON, ROGER B. J.; FARINA, BRUNA M.; FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; LANGER, MAX C.; EVERS, SERJOSCHA W.. Cranial ecomorphology of turtles and neck retraction as a possible trigger of ecological diversification. Evolution, v. 76, n. 11, p. 21-pg., 2022-10-11. (19/02086-6, 19/21787-5)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SOUZA, Guilherme Hermanson. Evolution of the skull shape in extinct and extant turtles. 2021. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC) Ribeirão Preto.