Modularity and morphological diversification and its relation to diet and mating systems in old world monkeys (Primates, Catarrhini)

• Grant number: 22/08168-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Quantitative Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Gabriel Henrique Marroig Zambonato
• Grantee: Lucas Arantes Camacho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Morphological integration refers to the fact that characters that share the same function or origin in development tend to be more correlated with each other than characters that do not share the same origin and function. The shared functioning of these traits will be genetically and phenotypically correlated, causing these traits to evolve together. In this way, morphological integration can influence the evolution of characteristics over time. Certain life habits (diet and mating systems) represent selective pressures and, consequently, can generate evolution of morphological characteristics that act on these life habits. Different diets require different ways of functioning of the features that form the organism's skull. Different mating systems can determine the degree of sexual dimorphism within each species, as each system has a different degree of combat or competition for mating. Considering that there is a correlation between the morphological characteristics that may be under directional selection due to different life habits, this correlation will determine how evolution occurs and how the averages of the characters will change together, interacting with the existing morphological integration. Here, we intend to go a step further in the studies of morphological integration in mammals, exploring the patterns and processes of diversification of old world primate skulls, comparing distinct groups, sexual dimorphism and testing hypotheses about the influence of morphological integration on the evolution of the averages of the morphological characters of these primates. Using existing phylogenies of old world primates, a database of primate skulls from LEM-USP, survey of life habits and statistical analyses, we can look for patterns and infer processes in the morphological diversification of these organisms. We expect morphological integration to play a central role in the morphological diversification of Old World monkeys, as seen in New World monkeys and other previously studied mammalian groups.