Unexpectedly uneven distribution of functional trade-offs explains cranial morphological diversity in carnivores
Gabriele Sansalone,
Stephen Wroe,
Geoffrey Coates
et al.
Abstract:Functional trade-offs can affect patterns of morphological and ecological evolution as well as the magnitude of morphological changes through evolutionary time. Using morpho-functional landscape modelling on the cranium of 132 carnivore species, we focused on the macroevolutionary effects of the trade-off between bite force and bite velocity. Here, we show that rates of evolution in form (morphology) are decoupled from rates of evolution in function. Further, we found theoretical morphologies optimising for ve… Show more
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