Faviel A López-Romero, Eduardo Villalobos-Segura, Julia Türtscher, Fidji Berio, Sebastian Stumpf, Richard P Dearden, Jürgen Kriwet, Ernesto Maldonado
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Batoids (skates and rays) are the most speciose group of cartilaginous fishes with a diverse array of ecological adaptations and swimming modes. Early skeletal fossil remains and recent phylogenetic analyses suggest that convergence among batoids has occurred independently multiple times. The drivers for such disparity patterns and possible association with modularity and phenotypic integration among batoids are not fully understood. Here we employed geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods to characterize the evolutionary trends in the basal fin skeleton of extinct and extant batoids and dorsoventrally flattened sharks. We found that the most speciose orders of batoids, Myliobatiformes and Rajiformes, display the lowest levels of morphological disparity, while Torpediniformes and Rhinopristitiformes have the highest disparity. Differences in evolutionary rates by habitat indicate that both reef and freshwater species evolved faster than deep-sea and shelf-distributed species. We further explored the differences based on swimming modes and found that species with oscillatory swimming exhibit higher evolutionary rates on their coracoid bar. We found that specific groups underwent different rates of evolution on each element of the pectoral fin. This was corroborated by the modularity and integration analyses, which indicate differences in the covariation between structures among the analyzed groups. The convergence analysis does not support the resemblance between flattened sharks and batoids; however we found convergence between extinct batoids and modern guitarfishes. Our findings suggest that habitat and swimming mode have shaped the pectoral fin evolution among batoids.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10682-025-10330-x.
期刊介绍:
Evolutionary Ecology is a concept-oriented journal of biological research at the interface of ecology and evolution. We publish papers that therefore integrate both fields of research: research that seeks to explain the ecology of organisms in the context of evolution, or patterns of evolution as explained by ecological processes.
The journal publishes original research and discussion concerning the evolutionary ecology of organisms. These may include papers addressing evolutionary aspects of population ecology, organismal interactions and coevolution, behaviour, life histories, communication, morphology, host-parasite interactions and disease ecology, as well as ecological aspects of genetic processes. The objective is to promote the conceptual, theoretical and empirical development of ecology and evolutionary biology; the scope extends to any organism or system.
In additional to Original Research articles, we publish Review articles that survey recent developments in the field of evolutionary ecology; Ideas & Perspectives articles which present new points of view and novel hypotheses; and Comments on articles recently published in Evolutionary Ecology or elsewhere. We also welcome New Tests of Existing Ideas - testing well-established hypotheses but with broader data or more methodologically rigorous approaches; - and shorter Natural History Notes, which aim to present new observations of organismal biology in the wild that may provide inspiration for future research. As of 2018, we now also invite Methods papers, to present or review new theoretical, practical or analytical methods used in evolutionary ecology.
Students & Early Career Researchers: We particularly encourage, and offer incentives for, submission of Reviews, Ideas & Perspectives, and Methods papers by students and early-career researchers (defined as being within one year of award of a PhD degree) – see Students & Early Career Researchers