Morphometrics in the quantification of character state identity for the assessment of primary homology: an analysis of character variation of the genus Artibeus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Abstract

The recognition of transformed homologues entails an evaluation of similarity of features among taxa and then an assessment of homology by character congruence. We approached the similarity test of character state identity with morphometric analyses of character variation to judge whether all variants from a taxonomic sample belong to the same phylogenetic state (taxic homology) or whether some variants are sufficiently different to recognize them as different states (transformational homology). This method seeks to recognize as many character states as the groups of taxon means that are revealed by an analysis of variance followed by a multiple range test. We exemplify this quantitative approach with an analysis of character variation for a phylogenetic study of eight Artibeus species and two outgroups. All 23 features analysed are taxonomically useful because at least two states could be defined. We argue that statistical tests are a consistent and non‐arbitrary procedure for the similarity test in the assessment of character states when hypothesizing primary homologies. Cladistic analyses and descriptive indices of historical signals of previous molecular and morphological data, combined with our morphometric data, showed that morphometric characters contain cladistic structure and they are phylogeneticaly useful. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 80, 45–55.

Body shape evolution of Chromis and Azurina species (Percifomes, Pomacentridae) of the eastern Pacific

“…Combined studies of morphometric and molecular data to answer phylogenetic hypothesis has been found to be highly consistent and in agreement (Caumul & Polly, 2005;Clouse et al, 2009;Giribet et al, 2012), indicating that the morphometric data contain significant phylogenetic information. Moreover, it has been found that phylogenetic analyses based solely on morphometric data can produce strong hypotheses (Guerrero et al, 2003;González-José et al, 2008;de Bivor et al, 2010;Soto-Vivas et al, 2011). The results show a strong agreement with previous molecular results.…”

“…Recently, the use of morphometrics in systematic contexts has undergone a clear revival (Humphries, 2002) through the development of new methodologies that allow a more efficient and elegant use of shape information, such as the direct use of x, >; (and 3D) coordinates (Catalano et al, 2010). Phylogenetic analyses based on geometric morphometrics have shown that morphometric data contain considerable historic signals (Felsenstein, 1988(Felsenstein, , 2002Guerrero et al, 2003;Caumul & Polly, 2005;Goloboff et al, 2006;González-José et al, 2008;de Bivort et al, 2010;Soto-Vivas et al, 2011).…”

Morcegos da região sul do Brasil: análise comparativa da riqueza de espécies, novos registros e atualizações nomenclaturais (Mammalia, Chiroptera)

“…Utiliza-se aqui no lugar de A. jamaicensis Leach, 1821. Embora o táxon tenha uma posição sistemática um pouco controversa, sendo considerada por alguns autores como subespécie ou sinônimo de A. jamaicensis, seguimos as propostas de GUERRERO et al (2003), LIM et al (2004) e LARSEN et al (2007, onde A. planirostris é considerada uma espécie plena, o que é também seguido por diversos autores (BARQUEZ et al, 1991(BARQUEZ et al, , 1999SIMMONS, 2005;BARQUEZ, 2006;ZORTÉA, 2007).…”

Abundance responses of frugivorous bats (Stenodermatinae) to coffee cultivation and selective logging practices in mountainous central Veracruz, Mexico

“…Bats were identified using field keys (Medellín et al 1997). Because no conclusive evidence exists to the contrary (Guerrero et al 2003;Redondo et al 2008), we recognized A. intermedius as a valid species, following the most recent nomenclature for the terrestrial mammals of Mexico (Ramírez-Pulido et al 2005). Abundance was quantified as the total number of individuals captured per forest fragment or coffee plantation.…”