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Fourier analysis applied to Stephanomys (Rodentia, Muridae) molars: nonprogressive evolutionary pattern in a gradual lineage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Sabrina Renaud
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, CC064, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
Jacques Michaux
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, CC064, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
Jean-Jacques Jaeger
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, CC064, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
Jean-Christophe Auffray
Affiliation:
Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, CC064, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France

Abstract

Size and shape are analyzed for Pliocene lineages of the rodent genus Stephanomys Schaub 1938. Previous phylogenetic studies were based mainly on size variation and descriptive comparisons, without any attempt to quantify shape changes. Hence, on the basis of regular size increase, Stephanomys has been considered a prime example of phyletic gradualism. In order to quantify morphological variation within the lineage, a method for analyzing complex outlines, the elliptic Fourier transform, was applied to tooth contour (upper and lower first molars). It was then possible to compare evolution in size, estimated by tooth area, as well as evolution of shape, represented by Fourier coefficients.

While size seems to change gradually through time, morphology gives a rather discontinuous evolutionary pattern for both the upper and lower molar. Such a discrepancy between the evolution of size and shape of a single structure suggests that different genetic determinisms and mechanical constraints may act on size and shape. Hence it may be misleading to infer generalized evolutionary processes from either size or shape alone.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

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