Morphometric analysis of six Gerbillus species (Rodentia, Gerbillinae) from Tunisia
| Autor: | M’barek Chetoui, Tahar Lamine-Cheniti, Paolo Colangelo, Ernesto Capanna, Awatef Abiadh |
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| Rok vydání: | 2010 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Dipodillus Tunisia Cephalometry geometric morphometric Zoology Generalist and specialist species General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology taxonomy Species Specificity Phylogenetics systematic Animals Cluster Analysis gerbillus Phylogeny Morphometrics Principal Component Analysis Sex Characteristics General Immunology and Microbiology biology Skull UPGMA General Medicine biology.organism_classification Gerbillus Female Taxonomy (biology) Subgenus Gerbillinae General Agricultural and Biological Sciences |
| Zdroj: | Comptes Rendus Biologies. 333:680-687 |
| ISSN: | 1631-0691 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.crvi.2010.07.003 |
| Popis: | Size and shape changes in the skull of the genus Gerbillus were investigated using geometric morphometrics. Six species from Tunisia were studied (G. gerbillus, G. campestris, G. nanus, G. tarabuli, G. simoni and G. latastei). Statistical analyses of shape variability allowed us to discriminate three morphological groups which are congruent with the three groups suggested by previous morphological and molecular studies. However, our results contrast with previous molecular investigations. In fact, according to results obtained by the use of principal component analysis, canonical variate analysis and UPGMA, we found a higher degree of divergence between the subgenus Dipodillus and the other two subgenera Gerbillus and Hendecapleura. This fact suggests that the morphometric differences observed among species within the genus Gerbillus are not mainly related to phylogeny. To reconciliate the molecular and morphological approaches, we propose a hypothesis of differential rates of phenotypic evolution in the genus Gerbillus. In this view, the species belonging to the subgenus Dipodillus evolved apomorphic features of the skull likely related to a higher degree of habitat specialization. By contrast, the more generalist Gerbillus and Hendecapleura subgenera show less differentiated plesiomorphic morphology. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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