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1 June 2008 Allometric Space and Allometric Disparity: A Developmental Perspective in the Macroevolutionary Analysis of Morphological Disparity
Sylvain Gerber, Gunther J. Eble, Pascal Neige
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Abstract

Here, we advance novel uses of allometric spaces—multidimensional spaces specifically defined by allometric coefficients—with the goal of investigating the focal role of development in shaping the evolution of morphological disparity. From their examination, operational measures of allometric disparity can be derived, complementing standard signals of morphological disparity through an intuitive and process-oriented refinement of established analytical protocols used in disparity studies. Allometric spaces thereby become a promising context to reveal different patterns of evolutionary developmental changes and to assess their relative prevalence and importance. Such spaces offer a novel domain of investigation of phenotypic variation and should help in detecting large-scale trends, thus placing various macroevolutionary phenomena in an explicitly developmental context. Ammonoidea (Cephalopoda) at the Lower-Middle Jurassic transition were chosen as a case study to illustrate this methodological approach. We constructed two phenotypic spaces: a static, adult one (adult morphospace) and a dynamic, developmental one (allometric space). Comparative disparity analyses show a strikingly stable occupation in both spaces, despite extensive change in taxonomic composition. In contrast, disparity analyses of subclades reveal clearly distinct morphological and allometric disparity dynamics. Allometric approaches allow developmental insights into morphological diversification otherwise intractable from the analysis of adult morphospace alone.

Sylvain Gerber, Gunther J. Eble, and Pascal Neige "Allometric Space and Allometric Disparity: A Developmental Perspective in the Macroevolutionary Analysis of Morphological Disparity," Evolution 62(6), 1450-1457, (1 June 2008). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00370.x
Received: 13 July 2007; Accepted: 13 February 2008; Published: 1 June 2008
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KEYWORDS
allometry
ammonites
development
macroevolution
Morphometrics
morphospace
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