Morphological variations and asymmetry

The inhibitory cascade model and evolution in segmentally organized tissues

The paper challenges the inhibitory cascade model's validity by showing its apparent fit is due to scaling artifacts, not biological relevance.

Orangutan: an R package for analyzing and visualizing phenotypic data in the context of ecology and systematics

Orangutan is an R package that streamlines phenotypic data analysis for species delimitation and population comparisons, offering automated statistical tools and visualization.

Genome-wide screen for deficiencies modifying Cyclin G-induced developmental instability in Drosophila melanogaster.

The paper identifies genetic factors that modify CycG-induced developmental instability in Drosophila by performing a genome-wide deficiency screen.

Variation of tooth traits in ecologically specialized and sympatric morphs

The paper examines dental trait variation in four sympatric Arctic charr morphs, finding differences in tooth numbers and angles related to feeding specializations and bone morphology.

Habitat and complex life cycles promote morphological diversity in salamander limb bones

This study shows that habitat and complex life cycles in salamanders increase limb bone diversity through trade-offs between stiffness and density.

Modular adaptation of the ribcage in response to artificial selection for endurance running

This study examines how artificial selection for endurance running in mice affects ribcage morphology, finding modular adaptations in caudal ribs with no overall shape difference between selected and control groups.

Revealing centurial changes in butterfly wing shape via the automated analysis of museum specimens.

This study uses automated methods to analyze museum butterfly specimens and finds directional trends in wing shape over 105 years, suggesting environmental factors like temperature change have shaped butterfly morphology.

The craniofacial shape of modern humans embodies genomic signatures of evolution, diversity, and clinical conditions

The paper uses 3D craniofacial data and genome-wide association analysis to link craniofacial variation to genetic diversity, evolutionary processes, and clinical conditions in modern humans.

Theoretical Morphology of Avian Wing Planform Reveals Variable Optimisation to Flight Style

The paper analyzes the relationship between avian wing planform shape and flight performance using a theoretical morphospace approach, finding that flight style strongly influences optimal wing shapes.

Neural crest cell biology shapes lizard skull evolution across evolutionary time scales

The paper examines how neural crest cell biology influences skull evolution in lizards, finding that neural crest-derived bones evolve rapidly under sexual selection but show slower rates and less disparity across species.

Quantifying between-species differences in morphological integration patterns using two-block PLS: an R implementation and sensitivity analysis

This paper introduces an R function to quantify between-species differences in morphological integration patterns using angle-based analysis of PLS1 eigenvectors and evaluates its performance through simulation.

A scaling theory of trait evolution

The paper develops a scaling model to explain allometric trait divergence in pygopodid lizards and tests its predictions using morphological data from 1,756 specimens.

Morphometric analyses of shape: The analysis software toolbox for quantification of craniofacial shape

The paper describes a protocol for quantifying craniofacial cartilage shape in ethanol-treated zebrafish using free software tools for multivariate statistical analysis.

Integration of multi-level dental diversity links macro-evolutionary patterns to ecological strategies across sharks.

The paper integrates multi-level dental diversity in sharks to link macro-evolutionary patterns with ecological strategies by analyzing morphological features across scales and correlating them with ecological and genetic traits.

Divergent paths, convergent heads: morphological adaptation of head shape to habitat use and diet in snakes.

This study analyzes head shape variation in snakes to determine how ecology, not phylogeny, drives morphological adaptation to habitat and diet.

Cracking the case: Differential adaptations to hard biting dominate cranial shape in rat-kangaroos (Potoroidae: Bettongia) with divergent diets.

The paper examines cranial shape adaptations in rat-kangaroos to hard biting, finding shared and divergent biomechanical strategies in species with similar diets.

Complementary ecomorphological patterns in brain shape and size evolution across the avian radiation

The paper analyzes brain shape and size evolution in 300 avian species to show that shape variation is largely independent of allometry and reflects clade-specific neuroanatomical divergence.

Histological divergence underlying globular body shapes in ornamental goldfish

This study compares body shapes and histology across goldfish strains to show that similar globular shapes arise through different developmental pathways.

Multivariate Trait Evolution: Models for the Evolution of the Quantitative Genetic G-Matrix on Phylogenies.

This paper develops analytical models for the evolution of genetic covariance matrices (G-matrices) on phylogenies, unifying quantitative genetics and macroevolutionary theory.

Postnatal interaction of size and shape in the human endocranium and brain structures

The paper examines postnatal shape changes in the human endocranium and brain structures using MRI, finding that relative size changes in brain regions constrain endocranial morphology.

The terrestrial-aquatic transition impacts endocranial shape in caniform carnivorans

This study examines how the transition from terrestrial to aquatic lifestyles affects endocranial shape in caniform carnivorans, finding that aquatic species have expanded neocortices and reduced paleocortices and olfactory bulbs.

Scaling and foraging behavior drive the evolution of humeral shape in hummingbirds

This study examines humeral shape evolution in hummingbirds, finding that biomechanical scaling and internal integration are primary drivers, with foraging ecology introducing secondary modifications.

Ant head shape evolved to compromise bite-induced mechanical demands

The paper examines ant head shape evolution, finding that narrow heads with deep vertex depressions distribute stress more evenly, while broader heads concentrate stress around mandibular articulations, leading to biomechanical limitations.

Landmark-based geometric morphometrics: Influential landmarks

The paper challenges the assumption that more landmarks improve shape discrimination in geometric morphometrics, showing smaller landmark subsets can outperform full sets in classifying morphologically similar taxa.

Hierarchical importance of factors impacting trilobite cephalic disparity

This study quantifies the hierarchical importance of factors affecting trilobite cephalic disparity using Linear Mixed-Effects Models and finds family-level classification better explains morphometry than order-level or other variables.

Conserved variation across scales unveils dialectical relationships of micro- and macroevolution

The paper analyzes Drosophila wing variation across multiple biological scales to show positive correlations between microevolutionary variation and macroevolutionary divergence.

Galactic arms, and devil's toenails: a synthesis of coiled morphology, applied to gastropods

The paper applies a logarithmic conispiral model to analyze coiled gastropod shells, demonstrating its fit and exploring covariation in shell growth and environmental influences.

Conservation and lability within the structure of mandibular integration in "old endemic" Australian rodents

The paper examines the conservation and variation of mandibular integration structures in Australian rodents, finding that integration patterns are a mix of conserved and labile elements across different evolutionary scales.

Geometric morphometrics enables accurate predictions of paleoecology and reveals unique adaptations to an expanded niche space in extinct waterfowl

This study uses geometric morphometrics and machine learning to predict the diets of extinct waterfowl and identifies unique ecological adaptations not seen in modern species.

Skeletal trait measurements for thousands of bird species

The paper uses computer vision to measure skeletal traits in bird species, creating a dataset of 12 skeletal elements from 14,419 individuals across 2,057 species, and imputes missing data using phylogenetic relationships.