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Assessing Species-specific Contributions To Craniofacial Development Using Quail-duck Chimeras
Published on: May 31, 2014
Digest: Ecological and life-history drivers of avian skull evolution
1Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
Abstract:
What are the factors that drive the patterns and evolutionary rates of morphological characteristics? To answer this question, Hunt et al. explore shape variation and rates of change in modern avian skulls using morphometric measurements and phylogenetic analyses. They find that habitat density and migration have the strongest influences on avian skull variation and that denser habitats, longer migratory distances, and precocial developmental modes are all associated with faster rates of morphological evolution.
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