Morphological variations and asymmetry

Linear morphometrics fail to support strong sexual dimorphism in Uintatherium anceps

The paper uses linear morphometrics to test sexual dimorphism in Uintatherium anceps and finds no strong evidence of it, contrasting with findings in Bison bison.

Body size and cranial shape differentiation in urban and rural house mice (Mus musculus domesticus)

This study finds urban house mice have smaller body size and some cranial shape differences not fully explained by size, suggesting body size mediates morphological responses to urbanization.

Invasion of new adaptive zones retains telltale signs of directional selection at macroevolutionary scales in mammals

The paper examines directional selection during adaptive zone transitions in mammals, finding elevated evolutionary rates in most cases compared to genetic drift.

Automated landmark and semilandmark annotation for wing geometric morphometrics in Diptera using deep learning

This paper develops an automated deep learning pipeline for Diptera wing landmark and semilandmark annotation, achieving high accuracy comparable to human observers and outperforming existing methods.

An Empirical Bayes approach for the study of phenotypic evolution from high-dimensional data

The paper introduces an Empirical Bayes framework for analyzing high-dimensional trait evolution, showing it is faster and more efficient than existing methods.

Stochastic Phylogenetic Models of Shape

This study introduces a stochastic framework for phylogenetic shape analysis using diffusion processes and applies it to butterfly wing data.

Sizing up phylogenetic testing in geometric morphometrics: A case study of allometry

The paper demonstrates that phylogenetic-generalised-least-squares (PGLS) can obscure conservative trait correlation (CTC) in shape analysis, using geometric morphometrics on rock-wallaby crania.

Resolving the "Ontogeny Problem" in Vertebrate Paleontology

This paper evaluates methods for accounting for ontogenetic variation in paleontology using alligator microCT data, finding flaws in common approaches and identifying invariant characters for taxonomic analysis.

Principal Components Analysis fails to recover phylogenetic structure in hominins

This paper shows that PCA fails to recover phylogenetic structure in hominin datasets, highlighting flaws in using PCA for phylogenetic inference.

From head to tail: does habitat use drive morphological variation in snakes?

This study examines how habitat use influences morphological variation in snakes, finding that habitat groups exhibit distinct morphologies with limited convergence in fossorial and aquatic species.

Connecting crowns: Analyzing morphological covariation in the modern human postcanine dentition

This study analyzes 3D shape covariation in modern human postcanine teeth using geometric morphometrics, finding high correlations within dental arches and notable differences between antagonist teeth.

Phylogenetics, trait covariance analysis, and the evolution of fin and body shape in the surgeonfishes

The paper introduces a novel Pagels λ adjustment to model phylogenetic signal in trait covariance analysis, revealing ecological associations and evolutionary shape covariation in surgeonfishes.

Regionally specific and highly pleiotropic loci together mediate skeletal evolution in tropical and temperate house mice

This study identifies QTL driving skeletal divergence in temperate and tropical house mice, revealing both small-effect and pleiotropic loci involved in adaptive evolution.

Procrustean pseudo-landmark methods in Python to measure massive quantities of leaf shape data

The paper introduces a Python-based method using pseudo-landmarks and Procrustes analysis to compare leaf shapes across species and development, showing shape transitions and genetic correlations.

Evolution of crop phenotypic spaces through domestication

This study examines how domestication shapes multivariate phenotypic spaces across species, finding convergence, reduced phenotypic space, and a new index for cross-species comparison.

Diffeomorphic Independent Contrasts for Ancestral Reconstruction of Shapes

This paper introduces DICAROS, a method for ancestral shape reconstruction that outperforms existing methods by combining LDDMM and Felsensteins Independent Contrasts, and applies it to swallowtail butterflies.

Dietary specialization drives adaptation, convergence, and integration across the cranial and appendicular skeleton in Waterfowl (Anseriformes).

The paper shows dietary ecology drives morphological convergence and integration across multiple skeletal structures in waterfowl.

Developmental underpinnings of morphological disparity in the avian bony palate

The paper quantitatively assesses avian palate ontogeny across 70 species to determine the developmental mechanisms behind morphological disparity, finding no evidence of neoteny but highlighting the role of developmental mode.

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.

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.

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.

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.