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Principal component analysis of avian hind limb and foot morphometrics and the relationship between ecology and phylogeny

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2020

Amanda R. Falk Open the ORCID record for Amanda R. Falk [Opens in a new window] ,
James C. Lamsdell Open the ORCID record for James C. Lamsdell [Opens in a new window]  and
Enpu Gong
Amanda R. Falk*
Affiliation:
Biology Program, Centre College, 600 West Walnut Street, Danville, Kentucky 40422, U.S.A. E-mail: amanda.falk@centre.edu
James C. Lamsdell
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, U.S.A. E-mail: james.lamsdell@mail.wvu.edu
Enpu Gong
Affiliation:
Northeastern University, Department of Geology, Shenyang, Liaoning 110819, China. E-mail: gongep@mail.neu.edu.cn
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Principal component analysis has been used to test for similarities in ecology and life habit between modern and fossil birds; however, the two main portions of the hind limb—the foot and the long bone elements—have not been examined separately. We examine the potential links between morphology, ecology, and phylogeny through a synthesis of phylogenetic paleoecological methods and morphospace analysis. Both hind limb morphologies and species’ ecologies exhibit extreme phylogenetic clumping, although these patterns are at least partially explainable by a Brownian motion style of evolution. Some morphologies are strongly correlated with particular ecologies, while some ecologies are occupied by a variety of morphologies. Within the morphospace analyses, the length of the hallux (toe I) is the most defining characteristic of the entire hind limb. The foot and hind limb are represented on different axes when all measurements are considered in an analysis, suggesting that these structures undergo morphological change separately from each other. Early birds tend to cluster together, representing an unspecialized basal foot morphotype and a hind limb reliant on hip-driven, not knee-driven, locomotion. Direct links between morphology, ecology, and phylogeny are unclear and complicated and may be biased due to sample size (~60 species). This study should be treated as a preliminary analysis that further studies, especially those examining the vast diversity of modern birds, can build upon.

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Paleobiology , Volume 47 , Special Issue 2: Phylogenetic Paleoecology , March 2021 , pp. 314 - 336
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Paleontological Society

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Footnotes

Data available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dr7sqv9wb.

*Corresponding author.

References

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