Quantitative Genetics, Pleiotropy, and Morphological Integration in the Dentition of Papio hamadryas

Variation in the mammalian dentition is highly informative of adaptations and evolutionary relationships, and consequently has been the focus of considerable research. Much of the current research exploring the genetic underpinnings of dental variation can trace its roots to Olson and Miller's 1958 book Morphological Integration. These authors explored patterns of correlation in the post-canine dentitions of the owl monkey and Hyopsodus, an extinct condylarth from the Eocene. Their results were difficult to interpret, as was even noted by the authors, due to a lack of genetic information through which to view the patterns of correlation. Following in the spirit of Olson and Miller's research, we present a quantitative genetic analysis of dental variation in a pedigreed population of baboons. We identify patterns of genetic correlations that provide insight to the genetic architecture of the baboon dentition. This genetic architecture indicates the presence of at least three modules: an incisor module that is genetically independent of the post-canine dentition, and a premolar module that demonstrates incomplete pleiotropy with the molar module. We then compare this matrix of genetic correlations to matrices of phenotypic correlations between the same measurements made on museum specimens of another baboon subspecies and the Southeast Asian colobine Presbytis. We observe moderate significant correlations between the matrices from these three primate taxa. From these observations we infer similarity in modularity and hypothesize a common pattern of genetic integration across the dental arcade in the Cercopithecoidea

Lemudong'o: a new 6 Ma paleontological site near Narok, Kenya Rift Valley

Copyright © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.Stanley H. Ambrose, Leslea J. Hlusko, David Kyule, Alan Deino and Martin Williamshttp://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622882/description#descriptio

Effects of hybridization on pelvic morphology: a macaque model

Ancient DNA analyses have shown that interbreeding between hominin taxa occurred multiple times. Though admixture is often reflected in skeletal phenotype, the relationship between the two remains poorly understood, hampering interpretation of human evolution. Direct study of this relationship is often impossible due to the paucity of hominin fossils and the difficulties of retrieving ancient genetic material. Here, we use a sample of known-ancestry hybrids between two closely related nonhuman primate taxa (Indian and Chinese Macaca mulatta) to investigate the effect of admixture on skeletal morphology. We focus on pelvic shape, which has potential fitness implications in hybrids, as mismatches between maternal pelvic and fetal cranial morphology are often fatal to mother and offspring. As the pelvis is also one of the skeletal regions that differs most between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, investigating the pelvic consequences of interbreeding could be informative regarding the viability of their hybrids. We find the effect of admixture in M. mulatta is small and proportional to the relatively small morphological difference between the parent taxa. Sexual dimorphism appears to be the main determinant of pelvic shape in M. mulatta. The lack of difference in pelvic shape between Chinese and Indian M. mulatta is in contrast to that between Neanderthals and H. sapiens, 2 despite a similar split time (in generations) between the hybridizing pairs. Greater phenotypic divergence between hominins may relate to adaptations to disparate environments, but may also highlight how the unique degree of cultural buffering in hominins allowed for greater neutral divergence. In contrast to some previous work identifying extreme morphologies in first- and second-generation hybrids, here the relationship between pelvic shape and admixture is linear. This linearity may be because most sampled animals have a multi-generational admixture history or because of relatively high constraints on the pelvis compared to other skeletal regions

Quantitative genetic variation in static allometry in the threespine stickleback

The common pattern of replicated evolution of a consistent shape-environment relationship might reflect selection acting in similar ways within each environment, but divergently among environments. However, phenotypic evolution depends on the availability of additive genetic variation as well as on the direction of selection, implicating a bias in the distribution of genetic variance as a potential contributor to replicated evolution. Allometry, the relationship between shape and size, is a potential source of genetic bias that is poorly understood. The threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, provides an ideal system for exploring the contribution of genetic variance in body shape allometry to evolutionary patterns. The stickleback system comprises marine populations that exhibit limited phenotypic variation, and young freshwater populations which, following independent colonization events, have often evolved similar phenotypes in similar environments. In particular, stickleback diversification has involved changes in both total body size and relative size of body regions (i.e., shape). In a laboratory-reared cohort derived from an oceanic Alaskan population that is phenotypically and genetically representative of the ancestor of the diverse freshwater populations in this region, we determined the phenotypic static allometry, and estimated the additive genetic variation about these population-level allometric functions. We detected significant allometry, with larger fish having relatively smaller heads, a longer base to their second dorsal fin, and longer, shallower caudal peduncles. There was additive genetic variance in body size and in size-independent body shape (i.e., allometric elevation), but typically not in allometric slopes. These results suggest that the parallel evolution of body shape in threespine stickleback is not likely to have been a correlated response to selection on body size, or vice versa. Although allometry is common in fishes, this study highlights the need for additional data on genetic variation in allometric functions to determine how allometry evolves and how it influences phenotypic evolution