Integration drives rapid phenotypic evolution in flatfishes
| Autor: | Kory M. Evans, Stacy C. Farina, Maria Laura Habegger, Sara-Jane Watson, Olivier Larouche, Matt Friedman |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine Evolution Modularity (biology) Tree of life Biology phylogeny 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences 03 medical and health sciences Phylogenetics parasitic diseases Animals geometric morphometrics Clade Ecosystem modularity Organism Morphometrics Multidisciplinary Phylogenetic tree Skull Biological Sciences Adaptation Physiological Biological Evolution Phenotype 030104 developmental biology Evolutionary biology Flatfishes Trait |
| Zdroj: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| ISSN: | 1091-6490 0027-8424 |
| Popis: | Significance Evolutionary innovations change how organisms interact with their environments. Trait modularization is thought to facilitate evolutionary innovation, while integration constrains diversification patterns. Cranial asymmetry in flatfishes was an innovation that allowed them to colonize, and dominate benthic aquatic habitats. In this study, we quantify rates of skull shape evolution, and integration across 102 species of flatfishes and their relatives and test for the effect of integration on rates of morphological diversification. We find that cranial asymmetry evolution was a rapid, integrated process. We additionally find that flatfishes are significantly more evolutionarily integrated than their relatives. These results suggest that trait integration plays a key role in the evolution of innovation by allowing traits to mount synchronous responses to selective pressures. Evolutionary innovations are scattered throughout the tree of life, and have allowed the organisms that possess them to occupy novel adaptive zones. While the impacts of these innovations are well documented, much less is known about how these innovations arise in the first place. Patterns of covariation among traits across macroevolutionary time can offer insights into the generation of innovation. However, to date, there is no consensus on the role that trait covariation plays in this process. The evolution of cranial asymmetry in flatfishes (Pleuronectiformes) from within Carangaria was a rapid evolutionary innovation that preceded the colonization of benthic aquatic habitats by this clade, and resulted in one of the most bizarre body plans observed among extant vertebrates. Here, we use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics and a phylogenetic comparative toolkit to reconstruct the evolution of skull shape in carangarians, and quantify patterns of integration and modularity across the skull. We find that the evolution of asymmetry in flatfishes was a rapid process, resulting in the colonization of novel trait space, that was aided by strong integration that coordinated shape changes across the skull. Our findings suggest that integration plays a major role in the evolution of innovation by synchronizing responses to selective pressures across the organism. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|