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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 8, 2025

Analysis of Craniomaxillofacial Malformations in Mice Using Three-dimensional Microcomputed Tomography
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Selection for increased tibia length in mice alters skull shape through parallel changes in developmental mechanisms.

Colton M Unger1,2, Jay Devine3, Benedikt Hallgrímsson2,3,4

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.

Elife
|April 26, 2021
PubMed
Summary

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Selective breeding for longer limbs in mice caused correlated changes in skull shape. This suggests indirect developmental links between distant skeletal elements, impacting evolutionary interpretations.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Skeletal Biology

Background:

  • Vertebrate skeletal growth, including cranial base and limb bones, relies on endochondral ossification regulated by growth plates.
  • Conserved mechanisms across growth plates can lead to size and shape covariation, potentially causing non-adaptive skeletal trait changes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate cranial shape changes in the Longshanks mouse model, selectively bred for extended tibiae.
  • To explore the developmental basis of correlated morphological changes between limb and cranial base skeletons.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) for high-resolution skeletal imaging.
  • Applied geometric morphometrics to quantitatively analyze cranial shape variations.
Keywords:
Longshanks mousecorrelated evolutioncranial shapedevelopmental biologyendochondral ossificationevolutionary biologygeometric morphometricsmouse

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Main Results:

  • Longshanks mouse skulls exhibited a stepwise increase in length, accompanied by flattening and narrowing.
  • These cranial shape alterations mirrored changes observed in the tibia, suggesting shared developmental pathways.
  • Cranial base growth plate development in Longshanks mice was implicated as the source of these morphological changes.

Conclusions:

  • Developmental overlap between distant skeletal elements can induce indirect, non-adaptive morphological changes.
  • These findings have significant implications for understanding the evolutionary history and interpretation of vertebrate skeletal form.