Response to Comment on “Nocturnality in Dinosaurs Inferred from Scleral Ring and Orbit Morphology”

Schmitz, Lars; Motani, Ryosuke

doi:10.1126/science.1208489

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Hall, ; Hall et al. ; Schmitz & Motani, ,b), through our analyses we have clearly shown that although there is some overlap between photopic and scotopic species (also shown by Hall, , ), the size of the ring is significantly different between scotopic and photopic species, and between fossorial and non‐fossorial species. It is currently unknown whether those species with a wider range of diel activities (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

The sclerotic ring of squamates: an evo‐devo‐eco perspective

Atkins

Franz‐Odendaal

2016

Journal of Anatomy

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The sclerotic ring consists of several bones that form in the sclera of many reptiles. This element has not been well studied in squamates, a diverse order of reptiles with a rich fossil record but debated phylogeny. Squamates inhabit many environments, display a range of behaviours, and have evolved several different body plans. Most importantly, many species have secondarily lost their sclerotic rings. This research investigates the presence of sclerotic rings in squamates and traces the lineage of these bones across evolutionary time. We compiled a database on the presence/absence of the sclerotic ring in extinct and extant squamates and investigated the evolutionary history of the sclerotic ring and how its presence/absence and morphology is correlated with environment and behaviour within this clade. Of the 400 extant species examined (59 families, 214 genera), 69% have a sclerotic ring. Those species that do not are within Serpentes, Amphisbaenia, and Dibamidae. We find that three independent losses of the sclerotic ring in squamates are supported when considering both evolutionary and developmental evidence. We also show that squamate species that lack, or have a reduced, sclerotic ring, are fossorial and headfirst burrowers. Our dataset is the largest squamate dataset with measurements of sclerotic rings, and supports previous findings that size of the ring is related to both environment occupied and behaviour. Specifically, scotopic species tend to have both larger inner and outer sclerotic ring apertures, resulting in a narrower ring of bone than those found in photopic species. Non-fossorial species also have a larger sclerotic ring than fossorial species. This research expands our knowledge of these fascinating bones; with further phylogenetic analyses scleral ossicles could become an extremely useful character trait for inferring the behaviour of fossil squamates.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

The sclerotic ring of squamates: an evo‐devo‐eco perspective

Atkins

Franz‐Odendaal

2016

Journal of Anatomy

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“…There has been some debate on the efficacy of this method in extinct taxa (Hall et al . ; Schmitz & Motani ). Nevertheless, phylogenetically flexible discriminant analysis (PFDA) has also been used to investigate diel patterns in non‐mammalian synapsids (Angielczyk & Schmitz ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A redescription of Orovenator mayorum (Sauropsida, Diapsida) using high‐resolution μCT, and the consequences for early amniote phylogeny

Ford

Benson

2018

Papers in Palaeontology

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The earliest known neodiapsid Orovenator mayorum from the lower Permian of Oklahoma is redescribed using high‐resolution μCT, revealing remarkable details of the skull anatomy. Our findings are relevant to both palaeoecology (suggesting burrowing and nocturnality) and phylogeny. Orovenator and other sauropsids share at least 16 character states with varanopids, many of which were not recognized by previous studies. These include a rounded subnarial shelf of the premaxilla, a posterodorsal extension of the external naris, the asymmetrical bifurcation of the anterior vomer, and a prominent dorsomedial shelf of the surangular. This exceptional degree of similarity between Orovenator and varanopids (a nominally synapsid clade) questions our current understanding of relationships among early amniotes. We test this by including Orovenator in a phylogenetic data matrix used in an earlier study to differentiate between early diapsids and synapsids, and find a monophyletic clade of Orovenator + varanopids within Diapsida. Recent phylogenetic research on early amniote evolution has focused on resolving intra‐clade affiliations rather than the interrelationships of major taxonomic groups. Nevertheless, the relative incompleteness of existing phylogenetic character lists for early amniotes can only be remedied by detailed cross‐clade assessment. We therefore suggest that early amniote relationships require further scrutiny before we can confidently accept or reject our new phylogenetic hypothesis.

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“…In this case, phylogenetic correction is necessary to ensure that the resulting projections into discriminant space are evolutionarily orthogonal. Previous studies that used pFDA showed that even small differences in the lambda values used to account for phylogenetic covariance among species led to different sets of classifications and error rates [49], so despite the low lambda values (see Results), we repeated all analyses using both phylogenetic and standard (non-phylogenetic) flexible discriminant analysis.…”

Section: Ecology and Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphology captures diet and locomotor types in rodents

2017

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To understand the functional meaning of morphological features, we need to relate what we know about morphology and ecology in a meaningful, quantitative framework. Closely related species usually share more phenotypic features than distant ones, but close relatives do not necessarily have the same ecologies. Rodents are the most diverse group of living mammals, with impressive ecomorphological diversification. We used museum collections and ecological literature to gather data on morphology, diet and locomotion for 208 species of rodents from different bioregions to investigate how morphological similarity and phylogenetic relatedness are associated with ecology. After considering differences in body size and shared evolutionary history, we find that unrelated species with similar ecologies can be characterized by a well-defined suite of morphological features. Our results validate the hypothesized ecological relevance of the chosen traits. These cranial, dental and external (e.g. ears) characters predicted diet and locomotion and showed consistent differences among species with different feeding and substrate use strategies. We conclude that when ecological characters do not show strong phylogenetic patterns, we cannot simply assume that close relatives are ecologically similar. Museum specimens are valuable records of species' phenotypes and with the characters proposed here, morphology can reflect functional similarity, an important component of community ecology and macroevolution.

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Response to Comment on “Nocturnality in Dinosaurs Inferred from Scleral Ring and Orbit Morphology”

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

The sclerotic ring of squamates: an evo‐devo‐eco perspective

The sclerotic ring of squamates: an evo‐devo‐eco perspective

A redescription of Orovenator mayorum (Sauropsida, Diapsida) using high‐resolution μCT, and the consequences for early amniote phylogeny

Morphology captures diet and locomotor types in rodents

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