Herbivory promotes dental disparification and macroevolutionary dynamics in grunters (Teleostei: Terapontidae), a freshwater adaptive radiation

Davis, Aaron M., Unmack, Peterj., Vari, Richard P., and Betancur-R, Ricardo (2016) Herbivory promotes dental disparification and macroevolutionary dynamics in grunters (Teleostei: Terapontidae), a freshwater adaptive radiation. American Naturalist, 187 (3). pp. 320-333.

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Abstract

Trophic shifts into new adaptive zones have played major (although often conflicting) roles in reshaping the evolutionary trajectories of many lineages. We analyze data on diet, tooth, and oral morphology and relate these traits to phenotypic disparification and lineage diversification rates across the ecologically diverse Terapontidae, a family of Australasian fishes. In contrast to carnivores and most omnivores, which have retained relatively simple, ancestral caniniform tooth shapes, herbivorous terapontids appear to have evolved a variety of novel tooth shapes at significantly faster rates to meet the demands of plant-based diets. The evolution of herbivory prompted major disparification, significantly expanding the terapontid adaptive phenotypic continuum into an entirely novel functional morphospace. There was minimal support for our hypothesis of faster overall rates of integrated tooth shape, spacing, and jaw biomechanical evolution in herbivorous terapontids in their entirety, compared with other trophic strategies. There was, however, considerable support for accelerated disparification within a diverse freshwater clade containing a range of specialized freshwater herbivores. While the evolutionary transition to herbivorous diets has played a central role in terapontid phenotypic diversification by pushing herbivores toward novel fitness peaks, there was little support for herbivory driving significantly higher lineage diversification compared with background rates across the family.

Item ID: 43995
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1537-5323
Keywords: phenotypic disparification, herbivory, dentition, carnivory, trophic shifts
Funders: Queensland Government Smithsonian Fellowship, National Science Foundation (NSF)
Projects and Grants: NSF Award DEB-1457184, NSF Award DEB-1541491
Date Deposited: 23 Mar 2016 07:45
FoR Codes: 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410404 Environmental management @ 50%
41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4199 Other environmental sciences > 419999 Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960504 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Environments @ 50%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960507 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Marine Environments @ 50%
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