TY - JOUR
T1 - A tail of evolution
T2 - Evaluating body length, weight and locomotion as potential drivers of tail length scaling in Australian marsupial mammals
AU - Weisbecker, Vera
AU - Speck, Cruise
AU - Baker, Andrew M.
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - Although mammalian tail length relative to body length is considered indicative of locomotor mode, this association has been difficult to quantify. This could be because the counterweight function of the tail might associate it more with body weight than body length. Alternatively, relative tail length might not be evolutionarily flexible owing to its integration with the remaining skeleton, particularly the spine. Using comparative analyses of morphological means and ranges in Australian marsupials, including the first co-assessment with body weight, our study supports the second hypothesis, i.e. tail length ranges within species, and tail lengths among species are explained better by body length than by body weight. However, all three variables do not differ in phylogenetic signal or rates of evolution. Associations of tail lengths with locomotion are limited, but suggest that scaling slopes, rather than intercepts, are responsible for limited divergence between relative tail lengths at different locomotor modes. This complicates (palaeo-)ecological interpretations of tail length further. We conclude that relative tail length is not a strong predictor of locomotor mode, probably owing to strong integration of tail and body length. The many well-documented bony and soft-tissue adaptations of tails are likely to be better suited to interpretations of locomotor adaptations.
AB - Although mammalian tail length relative to body length is considered indicative of locomotor mode, this association has been difficult to quantify. This could be because the counterweight function of the tail might associate it more with body weight than body length. Alternatively, relative tail length might not be evolutionarily flexible owing to its integration with the remaining skeleton, particularly the spine. Using comparative analyses of morphological means and ranges in Australian marsupials, including the first co-assessment with body weight, our study supports the second hypothesis, i.e. tail length ranges within species, and tail lengths among species are explained better by body length than by body weight. However, all three variables do not differ in phylogenetic signal or rates of evolution. Associations of tail lengths with locomotion are limited, but suggest that scaling slopes, rather than intercepts, are responsible for limited divergence between relative tail lengths at different locomotor modes. This complicates (palaeo-)ecological interpretations of tail length further. We conclude that relative tail length is not a strong predictor of locomotor mode, probably owing to strong integration of tail and body length. The many well-documented bony and soft-tissue adaptations of tails are likely to be better suited to interpretations of locomotor adaptations.
KW - macroevolution
KW - phylogenetic generalized least squares
KW - vertebral column
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084543619&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/ARC/170103227
U2 - 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz055
DO - 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz055
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084543619
SN - 0024-4082
VL - 188
SP - 242
EP - 254
JO - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
JF - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
IS - 1
ER -