Cranial divergence among evolutionary lineages of Martino's vole, Dinaromys bogdanovi, a rare Balkan paleoendemic rodent

We examined, in the context of phylogeny, variations in ventral cranial shape in Martino's vole (Dinaromys bogdanovi), a rare rodent endemic to the western Balkans. Our analysis was based on 138 complete adult skulls, which were pooled into 3 phylogeographic groups (Northwestern, Central, and S...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of mammalogy 2012-06, Vol.93 (3), p.818-825
Main Authors: Kryštufek, Boris, Klenovšek, Tina, Bužan, Elena V., Loy, Anna, Janžekovič, Franc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Biological evolution
Cranium
Dinaromys bogdanovi
Divergent evolution
Ecological genetics
Evolution
Evolutionary genetics
FEATURE ARTICLES
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetics
Geography
geometric morphometrics
Geometric shapes
Haplotypes
Hypothesis testing
Landmarks
Mammalia
Phenotypic variations
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Procrustes distances
Rivers
Rodents
Skull
stabilizing selection
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
Voles
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Summary:We examined, in the context of phylogeny, variations in ventral cranial shape in Martino's vole (Dinaromys bogdanovi), a rare rodent endemic to the western Balkans. Our analysis was based on 138 complete adult skulls, which were pooled into 3 phylogeographic groups (Northwestern, Central, and Southeastern). These groups were retrieved in an earlier study based on a 555–base-pair fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, which suggested a stepping-stone pattern of southward expansion followed by allopatry. Ventral skull shape was analyzed with geometric morphometrics using 23 two-dimensional landmarks. The primary shape differences across groups are the sizes of the auditory bulla and the foramen magnum, the length of the incisive foramen, and the width of the rostrum. Consistent geographic trends in shape changes were rare, and size was stable across phylogeographic groups. Morphological relationships among groups closely resemble genetic distances, implying their neutral evolution rate. We suggest that the adaptive zone occupied by Martino's vole imposes narrow limits to its phenotypic variation. Under the strong pressures of stabilizing selection for the normative (intermediate) phenotype, random drift in isolated populations produced only minor deviations in the ventral cranium.
ISSN:0022-2372
1545-1542
DOI:10.1644/11-MAMM-A-260.2