A multiple peak adaptive landscape based on feeding strategies and roosting ecology shaped the evolution of cranial covariance structure and morphological differentiation in phyllostomid bats

Author(s)

Rossoni, Daniela M. ^[1] ; Costa, Barbara M. A. ^[1] ; Giannini, Norberto P. ^[2] ; Marroig, Gabriel ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Biosci Inst, Dept Genet & Evolutionary Biol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Nacl Tucuman, CONICET, Unidad Ejecutora Lillo, San Miguel De Tucuman, Tucuman - Argentina

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Evolution; v. 73, n. 5, p. 961-981, MAY 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

We explored the evolution of morphological integration in the most noteworthy example of adaptive radiation in mammals, the New World leaf-nosed bats, using a massive dataset and by combining phylogenetic comparative methods and quantitative genetic approaches. We demonstrated that the phenotypic covariance structure remained conserved on a broader phylogenetic scale but also showed a substantial divergence between interclade comparisons. Most of the phylogenetic structure in the integration space can be explained by splits at the beginning of the diversification of major clades. Our results provide evidence for a multiple peak adaptive landscape in the evolution of cranial covariance structure and morphological differentiation, based upon diet and roosting ecology. In this scenario, the successful radiation of phyllostomid bats was triggered by the diversification of dietary and roosting strategies, and the invasion of these new adaptive zones lead to changes in phenotypic covariance structure and average morphology. Our results suggest that intense natural selection preceded the invasion of these new adaptive zones and played a fundamental role in shaping cranial covariance structure and morphological differentiation in this hyperdiverse clade of mammals. Finally, our study demonstrates the power of combining comparative methods and quantitative genetic approaches when investigating the evolution of complex morphologies. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/12632-4 - Morphological evolution and cranial integration in Phyllostomidae
• Grantee: Daniela Munhoz Rossoni
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 15/16598-8 - Cranial evolution of sigmodontine rodents Wagner, 1843
• Grantee: Bárbara Maria de Andrade Costa
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 11/14295-7 - Modularity and its evolutionary consequences
• Grantee: Gabriel Henrique Marroig Zambonato
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants