RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Considering decoupled phenotypic diversification between ontogenetic phases in macroevolution: An example using Triggerfishes (Balistidae)
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.01.11.475856
DO 10.1101/2022.01.11.475856
A1 Alex Dornburg
A1 Katerina L. Zapfe
A1 Rachel Williams
A1 Michael E. Alfaro
A1 Richard Morris
A1 Haruka Adachi
A1 Joseph Flores
A1 Francesco Santini
A1 Thomas J. Near
A1 Bruno Frédérich
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/12/2022.01.11.475856.abstract
AB Across the Tree of Life, most studies of phenotypic disparity and diversification have been restricted to adult organisms. However, many lineages have distinct ontogenetic phases that do not reflect the same traits as their adult forms. Non-adult disparity patterns are particularly important to consider for coastal ray-finned fishes, which often have juvenile phases with distinct phenotypes. These juvenile forms are often associated with sheltered nursery environments, with phenotypic shifts between adults and juvenile stages that are readily apparent in locomotor morphology. However, whether this ontogenetic variation in locomotor morphology reflects a decoupling of diversification dynamics between life stages remains unknown. Here we investigate the evolutionary dynamics of locomotor morphology between adult and juvenile triggerfishes. Integrating a time-calibrated phylogenetic framework with geometric morphometric approaches and measurement data of fin aspect ratio and incidence, we reveal a mismatch between morphospace occupancy, the evolution of morphological disparity, and the tempo of trait evolution between life stages. Collectively, our results illuminate how the heterogeneity of morpho-functional adaptations can decouple the mode and tempo of morphological diversification between ontogenetic stages.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.