Steinfield, KR;
Felice, RN;
Kirchner, ME;
Knapp, A;
(2024)
Carrion converging: Skull shape predicts feeding ecology in vultures.
Journal of Zoology
, 322
(2)
pp. 113-125.
10.1111/jzo.13127.
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Journal of Zoology - 2023 - Steinfield - Carrion converging Skull shape predicts feeding ecology in vultures.pdf - Published Version Download (4MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The link between skull shape and dietary ecology in birds at macroevolutionary scales has recently been called into question by analyses of 3D shape that reveal that cranial anatomy is mainly influenced by other factors such as allometry. It is still unknown whether this form-function disconnect also exists at smaller evolutionary scales, for example within specialized ecological guilds. Vultures are a diverse guild of 23 extant species in two families (Accipitridae and Cathartidae) that exhibit evolutionary convergence as a result of highly specialized feeding ecology. Vultures are the only known obligate scavengers among vertebrates and are usually grouped together under this single dietary category, but within this specialized diet there are three distinct, species-specific feeding strategies termed ripper, gulper, and scrapper. We use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to quantify the relative contributions of feeding ecology, allometry, and phylogeny on vulture skull shape, along with several non-vulture raptors of similar size, range and ecology. Families show clear separation in shape, but phylogenetic signal is comparatively weak (Kmult = 0.33). Taking into account the influence of phylogeny, skull shape is not significantly correlated with either skull size or feeding type, but there are examples of strong, significant convergence and parallel shape evolution across feeding groups. Furthermore, skull shape performs strongly in predicting feeding ecology in a phylogenetic discriminant function analysis. These findings highlight the importance of detailed assessment of feeding behavior in studies of ecomorphology, rather than broader dietary categories alone, and reveal that ecology can be readily inferred from form given appropriate information.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Carrion converging: Skull shape predicts feeding ecology in vultures |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/jzo.13127 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13127 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Zoology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Zoological Society of London. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Convergent evolution; geometric morphometrics; phenotypic evolution; vultures; feeding ecology; skull shape; ecomorphology |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10203949 |
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