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Previous work has shown increased morphological variance within the forelimbs of the Permian synapsid group known as Therapsida over that of their Carboniferous and early Permian forerunners (“pelycosaurs”). Considering that disparity trends have been known to point to underlying macroevolutionary transitions, here we analyzed morphological variance alongside several additional macroevolutionary metrics to better isolate possible evolutionary mechanisms. Shape data was collected on a sample of 119 humeri and 99 ulnae comprising three major synapsid radiations with a temporal range from the Carboniferous into the Triassic. Taxonomic sample included all major groups of pelycosaur-grade synapsids, all five recognized non-cynodontian therapsid clades, and a sample of pre-prozostrodontian cynodonts. Procrustes variance - a multivariate quantification of morphospace occupation - was the chosen disparity metric for the study. Rate of phenotypic change, which considers the amount of shape change that would be necessary to achieve observed morphologies given the shape of the closely related taxa, was analyzed as the metric for evolutionary rate. Both metrics were considered through-time upon genera present in sequential 5 million year time bins. Our results expand upon previous findings that disparity increases throughout the earliest stages of the Permian, coincident with the diversification of pelycosaurs and the emergence of Therapsida. This expanded dataset further shows that disparity approaches an asymptote around 270 million years ago and only increases marginally through the late Permian, remaining between 0.018–0.021 from 275-245 mya. In contrast, evolutionary rate does not appear to asymptote during this same interval, starting at a low of 6.17e-6 (300 mya) and increasing to a peak of 1.78e-5 right before the End Permian Mass Extinction Event (252 mya). The continuing increase of evolutionary rate shows that morphological change continues across taxa, but the plateauing of morphological disparity suggests that morphospace is not expanding concurrent with this. The incongruence between these two metrics suggests a critical change in evolutionary mode, wherein morphological change continues rapidly but does not result in the evolution of novel morphologies. These results provide some of the strongest quantitative data yet of an evolutionary constraint acting upon the morphology of the synapsid forelimb through deep time.
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TESTING FOR FUNCTIONAL CONSTRAINTS AMONG TRENDS IN EURYPTERID APPENDICULAR DIVERSITY AND DISPARITY
Eurypterids were an extinct group of aquatic chelicerate arthropods which originated in the mid-Ordovician and persisted until the late Permian. Being character-rich organisms with a well-resolved and robust phylogeny, eurypterids are an excellent study group for exploring evolutionary mechanisms and processes, such as trends in diversity and disparity and drivers of morphological change. Here, we use eurypterids as a case study for exploring mosaic evolution and the role of functional constraints in limiting disparity through an emphasis on the morphological diversity of the prosomal appendages and differences in somatic variation in the prosoma and opisthosoma. A dataset comprising 122 characters coded for 39 taxa (selected for completeness) was compiled in order to explore patterns of complexity in eurypterid tagmata over the course of their evolutionary history. The matrix, while comprised of discrete characters, is explicitly distinct from the kind of matrices employed in phylogenetic analysis, with prosomal appendage armature and tergite pleural structures being coded somite by somite. In total, 62 characters are coded for the prosoma (16 of which relate to the prosomal carapace and 46 of which relate to the prosomal appendages) and 60 are coded for the opisthosoma (55 for the tergites and 5 for the telson). From this dataset Euclidean pairwise distances between all taxa were generated and subjected to ordination through principal coordinates analysis (PCO), generating a theoretical morphospace. We compare metrics for disparity(as summarized by the Sum of Ranges and Sum of Variance of occupied morphospace)and appendage differentiation (limb tagmatization as defined by Cisne 1974) to explore patterns in complexity and disparity across eurypterids. Prosomal and opisthosomal disparity was analysed together and separately, in order to test for mosaicism across the eurypterid tagmata, with eurypterids grouped according to either environmental occupation, the form of the chelicera, and the morphology of appendage VI. These analyses explore whether limb complexity correlates with different life habits, the impact of increasing cheliceral size on limb complexity, and whether the advent of swimming in the group resulted in a functional release for appendage specialization.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1943082
- PAR ID:
- 10503801
- Publisher / Repository:
- Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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