SGER: Geometric Morphometrics-Based Visualization and Analysis of Morphological Integration: A New Look at Bivalve Evolution

SGER：基于几何形态测量的形态整合可视化与分析：双壳类进化的新视角Peter D.RoopnarineEAR-0313560ABSTRACT提出的研究是形态整合的一种新方法，这是形态研究中的一个长期兴趣。形态整合是在生物体水平上衡量形态特征之间关系的一种度量。形态整合模式是对单系生物群体的表型实际上是如何由已识别的特征组合而成的描述。因此，单系支系内的模式变异代表了适应性历史，以及系统发育和功能限制。本研究建议开发一种新的方法来推导和分析在一个非常多样化和地质上古老的双壳软体动物支系--Veneroidae超家族中的形态整合模式。观察一个分支内和地质时间内的形态整合模式，将使这项研究能够解决一个重要的古生物学概念，即表型结构在形态约束、适应性辐射和系统发育多样化中的确切作用。这一建议是新颖的，因为整合模式将从基于几何形态计量学的分析中获得，这将允许对研究生物体的表型进行直接可视化。这些分析还将涵盖迄今考虑用于综合研究的最长地质时间间隔，约为8000万年。此外，有人建议在最新的网络理论和复杂性数学框架中分析这些模式，因为：1)形态整合模式是有机体形态区域之间的真实网络，2)网络理论最近被应用于生物层次结构的最低水平，如基因组组织和基因功能，以及最高水平，如营养食物网。物种和单系支系水平上的形态整合模式代表了等级的这两个末端之间的关键联系。

SGER: Geometric Morphometric-based Visualization and Analysis of Morphological Integration: A New Look at Bivalve EvolutionPeter D. RoopnarineEAR-0313560ABSTRACTThe proposed research is a novel approach to morphological integration, a long-standing interest in morphological studies. Morphological integration is a measure of the relationships among morphological characters at the level of the organism. Patterns of morphological integration are descriptions of how the phenotype of a monophyletic group of organisms is actually assembled from recognized characters. Variation of patterns within a monophyletic clade is therefore representative of adaptive histories, as well as phylogenetic and functional constraints. The present study proposes to develop a new method for the derivation and analysis of patterns of morphological integration within a very diverse and geologically old clade of bivalved molluscs, the superfamily Veneroidea. Viewing patterns of morphological integration within a clade, and over geological time, will allow this study to address an important paleobiological concept, namely the precise role of phenotypic construction in morphological constraint, adaptive radiation, and phylogenetic diversification. This proposal is novel because integration patterns will be derived from geometric morphometrics-based analyses, which will allow direct visualization on the phenotypes of the study organisms. The analyses will also encompass the longest interval of geologic time yet considered for a study of integration, approximately 80 million years. Furthermore, it is proposed that these patterns be analyzed in the recent frameworks of network theory and the mathematics of complexity because: 1) Patterns of morphological integration are true networks of relationships among regions of the organism's morphology, and 2) Network theory has been applied recently to both the very lowest levels of the biological hierarchy, such as genomic organization and gene function , and the highest levels, such as trophic food webs. Patterns of morphological integration at the level of species and monophyletic clades represent a critical link between these two ends of the hierarchy.