RRmorph-a new R package to map phenotypic evolutionary rates and patterns on 3D meshes

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Phylogenetics
• Quantitative genetics

Background:

• Understanding how natural selection shapes phenotypic diversity is crucial.
• Phylogenetic comparative methods aid in studying phenotypic variation.
• Complex 3D structures like skulls and brains present challenges due to disparate functions of their parts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present further developments of tools for charting evolutionary rates and patterns on 3D shapes.
• To enable the mapping of evolutionary rates and patterns with full biological realism.
• To provide these advanced tools in a new R software package.

Main Methods:

• Development of novel computational tools for analyzing evolutionary rates.
• Application of these tools to map evolutionary rates and patterns directly onto 3D morphological data.
• Integration of these methods into a user-friendly R software package.

Main Results:

• The developed tools allow for the restitution of evolutionary rate and pattern mapping on 3D shapes.
• These advancements provide greater biological realism in evolutionary analyses.
• A new R package is now available for researchers.

Conclusions:

• The enhanced tools offer a more comprehensive approach to studying evolution in complex structures.
• This work facilitates a deeper understanding of how natural selection acts on phenotypes.
• The R package democratizes access to advanced evolutionary analysis methods.