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Ecological Adaptations of Mandibular Form in Fissiped Carnivora

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Abstract

Among mammals, Carnivora presents an ideal group for investigating the complex interplay between functional adaptation and phylogenetic history. Here we explore mandibular form and its relationship to ecology and phylogeny using geometric morphometrics applied to mandibles of extant Carnivora. Both mandibular size and shape discriminate carnivoran ecological adaptations (diet, membership to small or large predatory guilds), but the interplay of morphology with phylogenetic history is profound. In general, families do not overlap in mandible shape; however, Viverridae, Herpestidae, Canidae, and Mustelidae exhibit functional and morphological convergence. Mandibular allometric trajectories are distinct among families and ecological categories. Our findings suggest that variability in mandibular form among Carnivora is primarily influenced by major evolutionary changes occurring at the family level and less, but significantly so, by ecological adaptations. Small generalist feeders (insectivores, omnivores) exhibit stronger convergence in mandibular shape than highly specialized predators; bigger taxa, such as bears, evolved unique morphologies constrained by allometric scaling. Thus, the findings of this study serve to demonstrate how ecological factors mold anatomical structures in similar ways to serve similar functions. As such, carnivoran species can be usefully grouped into functional ‘guilds’ in eco-morphological studies irrespective of their phylogenetic history.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the staff of the Natural History Museum, London for their invaluable help. In particular, we would like to thank: P. Jenkins, L. Tomsett, R. Portela-Miguez, A. Salvador, and D. Hills. A. Kitchner and J. Herman provided support in the collections of the Royal Museum of Scotland. P. Piras and F. Lucci kindly shared their mandible database of felids. P. Raia, F. Carotenuto, C. Barbera, and T. Kotsakis helped throughout the preliminary analyses for this manuscript. John Wible and two anonymous reviewers kindly provided important insights to improve the quality of the manuscript

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hull York Medical School, The University of Hull, Loxley Building, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK

    C. Meloro

  2. Hull York Medical School, The University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK

    P. O’Higgins

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  1. C. Meloro
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  2. P. O’Higgins
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Correspondence to C. Meloro.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 8 Specimens are from the Natural History Museum, London, UK (BMNH) except Panthera leo from the Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Munich, Germany (ZSM) and Panthera tigris from the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK (RMS). Abbreviations: Omn = Omnivore, Pisc = Piscivore, Ins = Insectivore, Meat-S = Meat eater of small prey, Meat-M = Meat eater of medium prey, Meat-L = Meat eater of large prey, S = Small, L = Large, Ukn = Unknown.
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Appendix 2

Phylogenetic tree of 97 Carnivora after pruning the supertree of Bininda-Emonds et al. (1999) to only include the taxa studied here. Branch lengths are proportional to time of divergence in millions of years.

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Meloro, C., O’Higgins, P. Ecological Adaptations of Mandibular Form in Fissiped Carnivora. J Mammal Evol 18, 185–200 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-011-9156-z

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