Evolution in action: soil hardness influences morphology in a subterranean rodent (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae)

Kubiak, Bruno Busnello; Maestri, Renan; Almeida, Thamara Santos de; Borges, Leandro Rodrigues; Galiano, Daniel; Fornel, Rodrigo; Freitas, Thales Renato Ochotorena de

doi:10.1093/biolinnean/bly144

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Several burrowing mammals such as semi-fossorial rodents belonging to the Sciuridae family (ground and tree squirrels), are characterised by robust humeral shafts (Elissamburu & Vizcaíno, 2004;Gambaryan & Gasc, 1993;Hildebrand, 1985). The robustness of the humeral shaft differed in two populations of Ctenomys minutus (tiny tuco-tuco's) where those animals that excavated in hard soils showed more robust humeri than those digging in soft soils (Kubiak et al, 2018). Therefore, the high stresses and loads that the forelimbs are subjected to during scratch-digging movements in B. suillus may account for the more robust humeral shaft compared to the relatively slender one observed in the chisel-tooth digging H. glaber.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The latter study postulated that rodent families with similar locomotor behaviours share morphological characteristics. Furthermore, Kubiak, Maestri, De Almeida, et al (2018) showed that different excavation methods influenced limb and skull morphology in two populations of the same species, Ctenomys minutus (tiny tuco-tuco) that live in different soil types. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine if musculoskeletal forelimb anatomy differs between two African mole-rat species that employ different digging strategies.…”

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Comparative forelimb morphology of scratch‐digging and chisel‐tooth digging African mole‐rat species

Doubell

Sahd

Kotzé

2020

Journal of Morphology

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Bathyergus suillus (Cape dune mole-rat) and Heterocephalus glaber (naked mole-rat) are two species of subterranean burrowing rodents. Bathyergus suillus occurs in soft sandy soils and is regarded as a scratch-digger, while H. glaber is found in hard, compact soils and is a chisel-tooth digging species. The present study aimed to determine musculoskeletal differences in the forelimb of these two species. The muscles of the forelimb, back and neck were dissected to the points of origin and insertion in the left and right forelimbs, B. suillus (n = 7) and H. glaber (n = 5). Dissected muscles were photographed before maceration to demonstrate muscle attachments. The scapular spine, acromion process and clavicle were relatively straight in B. suillus. In comparison a curved scapular spine, acromion process and clavicle were observed in H. glaber. In both species, the clavicle rested on the greater tuberosity of the humerus. In B. suillus, the deltoid tuberosity was prominent and situated more distally on the humeral shaft compared to the indistinct, more proximally situated deltoid tuberosity in H. glaber. A prominent bony structure underlying the thenar pad as well as a cartilaginous protrusion beneath the hypothenar pad were observed on the palmar surface of the manus in B. suillus. Prominent claws were observed in B. suillus. A robust m. sternohyoideus was observed in H. glaber while mm. tensor fasciae antebrachii and coracobrachialis were absent. The flexors of the antebrachium of B. suillus had additional and enlarged attachment sites. The forelimb of B. suillus may be morphologically adapted for scratch-digging with relatively large and additional forelimb muscles and robust bones. In comparison, H. glaber had a reduction in the relative size, amount of muscles as well as number of attachment sites in the forelimb muscles, while the well-developed ventral neck muscles may facilitate neck and head stabilisation during chisel-tooth digging.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Comparative forelimb morphology of scratch‐digging and chisel‐tooth digging African mole‐rat species

Doubell

Sahd

Kotzé

2020

Journal of Morphology

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“…In different habitats, Ctenomys minutus has adopted different strategies (i.e., scratch‐digging and tooth‐digging) in tunnel excavation. They also adapt to changes in soil hardness and show significant differences in the structural morphology associated with burrowing style (Kubiak et al, 2018). Our study showed that in species inhabiting areas with less precipitation, the angle formed between the two incisors is smaller, which is more effective in excavating and surviving in harder soils.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecific skull variation at a small scale: The genus Eospalax exhibits functional morphological variations related to the exploitation of ecological niche

Kang

Yao

et al. 2021

J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res.

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Ecology influences the process of speciation. The interspecific differences in mammalian skull morphology, induced by environmental factors, are important when investigating speciation. In the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, the genus Eospalax consists of six species of subterranean rodents, each with its unique niche, making it an ideal model for studying the relationship between biological evolution and the environment. Here, the interspecific differences in five of the six extant species (E. cansus, E. baileyi, E. rufescens, E. smithii, and E. fontanierii) were evaluated at the morphometric and ecological levels using geometric morphometrics, a powerful tool for studying morphological variation. The multivariate analysis of variance showed significant differences in skull morphology on the dorsal and ventral sides in all species. The thin‐plate splines showed that the variations in skull morphology were primarily in the infraorbital foramen, frontal bone, zygomatic arch, occipital bone, incisors, incisive foramen, and tooth row. The multivariate regression analysis showed a significant positive correlation between skull morphological variations and ecological factors; precipitation accounted for the more variations than altitude and temperature. Species inhabiting regions with the highest altitude, minimum precipitation, and temperature (E. baileyi) had the largest infraorbital foramen and zygomatic arch, shortest occipital bone and widest frontal bone, smallest angle formed by two incisors, and longest incisive foramen. Our study elucidates the relationship between skull morphological differentiation and environmental factors in Eospalax, while the biological response to the environment detected warrants further investigation. Our results can provide references for speciation at local environmental scale.

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“…Gambaryan () argued that kicking the loose dirt is not a very strenuous behavior, but the forces which need to be generated during hind limb digging or resisted when the forelimbs are utilized might depend on the characteristics of the habitat. For example, it was shown that the soil hardness is reflected in the humeral morphology of different populations of the caviomorph rodent species Ctenomys minutus (Kubiak et al, ). Xerine species are found in arid habitats in Africa and Central Asia, whereas Marmotini is spread across the Holarctic region (Nowak, ; Thorington Jr. et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weighing homoplasy against alternative scenarios with the help of macroevolutionary modeling: A case study on limb bones of fossorial sciuromorph rodents

Wölfer

Nyakatura

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Homoplasy is a strong indicator of a phenotypic trait's adaptive significance when it can be linked to a similar function. We assessed homoplasy in functionally relevant scapular and femoral traits of Marmotini and Xerini, two sciuromorph rodent clades that independently acquired a fossorial lifestyle from an arboreal ancestor. We studied 125 species in the scapular dataset and 123 species in the femoral dataset. Pairwise evolutionary model comparison was used to evaluate whether homoplasy of trait optima is more likely than other plausible scenarios. The most likely trend of trait evolution among all traits was assessed via likelihood scoring of all considered models. The homoplasy hypothesis could never be confirmed as the single most likely model. Regarding likelihood scoring, scapular traits most frequently did not differ among Marmotini, Xerini, and arboreal species. For the majority of femoral traits, results indicate that Marmotini, but not Xerini, evolved away from the ancestral arboreal condition. We conclude on the basis of the scapular results that the forelimbs of fossorial and arboreal sciuromorphs share mostly similar functional demands, whereas the results on the femur indicate that the hind limb morphology is less constrained, perhaps depending on the specific fossorial habitat.

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Evolution in action: soil hardness influences morphology in a subterranean rodent (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae)

Cited by 21 publications

References 56 publications

Comparative forelimb morphology of scratch‐digging and chisel‐tooth digging African mole‐rat species

Comparative forelimb morphology of scratch‐digging and chisel‐tooth digging African mole‐rat species

Interspecific skull variation at a small scale: The genus Eospalax exhibits functional morphological variations related to the exploitation of ecological niche

Weighing homoplasy against alternative scenarios with the help of macroevolutionary modeling: A case study on limb bones of fossorial sciuromorph rodents

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