A simple skeletal measurement effectively predicts climbing behaviour in a diverse clade of small mammals
A simple skeletal measurement effectively predicts climbing behaviour in a diverse clade of small mammals
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DOI：
10.1093/biolinnean/blz085
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发表时间：
2019-09
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
Jonathan A. Nations;L. Heaney;T. Demos;A. Achmadi;K. Rowe;Jacob A. Esselstyn
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jonathan A. Nations;L. Heaney;T. Demos;A. Achmadi;K. Rowe;Jacob A. Esselstyn
树栖运动使人们能够获得地上资源，并可能促进了哺乳动物的多样化。然而，简单的形态测量，始终与树相关联仍然是不确定的。因此，许多现存和灭绝的哺乳动物物种的攀爬习惯仍然是推测性的。我们收集了20种鼠类啮齿动物，生态和形态多样的分支的攀登倾向的定量数据。我们利用贝叶斯系统发育混合模型（BPMMs），将种内变异和系统发育的不确定性，以确定哪些，如果有的话，特征（17个骨骼指数）预测攀登频率。我们使用有序的BPMMs测试的能力的指数放置48个鼠种，缺乏定量攀登数据到三个定性运动类别（陆地，一般和树栖）。只有两个指数（相对手指长度的措施）准确预测运动风格，与手指长度显示最佳拟合。手趾长度具有低系统发育信号，主要由运动生态学解释，并可能有效地预测许多小型哺乳动物（包括灭绝物种）的运动。令人惊讶的是，相对尾巴长度，一个共同的代理运动，是一个穷人的预测攀登。在一般情况下，详细的，定量的自然历史数据，如这里所介绍的，需要加强我们的进化和生态成功的分支的理解。
Arboreal locomotion allows access to above-ground resources and might have fostered the diversification of mammals. Nevertheless, simple morphological measurements that consistently correlate with arboreality remain indefinable. As such, the climbing habits of many species of mammals, living and extinct, remain speculative. We collected quantitative data on the climbing tendencies of 20 species of murine rodents, an ecologically and morphologically diverse clade. We leveraged Bayesian phylogenetic mixed models (BPMMs), incorporating intraspecific variation and phylogenetic uncertainty, to determine which, if any, traits (17 skeletal indices) predict climbing frequency. We used ordinal BPMMs to test the ability of the indices to place 48 murine species that lack quantitative climbing data into three qualitative locomotor categories (terrestrial, general and arboreal). Only two indices (both measures of relative digit length) accurately predict locomotor styles, with manus digit length showing the best fit. Manus digit length has low phylogenetic signal, is largely explained by locomotor ecology and might effectively predict locomotion across a multitude of small mammals, including extinct species. Surprisingly, relative tail length, a common proxy for locomotion, was a poor predictor of climbing. In general, detailed, quantitative natural history data, such as those presented here, are needed to enhance our understanding of the evolutionary and ecological success of clades.