Mammalian skeletal diversity

Complex interactions among genetic, environmental, and phylogenetic mechanisms mediate and shape phenotypic diversity. Ongoing research efforts have largely followed disciplinary boundaries in micro- or macro-evolutionary scopes, genotypic or phenotypic data, and morphometric or biomechanic subdivisions of functional morphology. In this project, we will integrate genetic, biomechanical, ecological, and macroevolutionary approaches of morphological analysis and test hypotheses about the evolutionary drivers of mammalian skeletal diversity. We will first quantify heritability in skeletal traits by constructing a genetic covariance matrix that characterizes skeletal variation in a non-inbred pedigreed mouse population. We will then use the 55+ million year record of carnivoran mammals as our model system to (1) disentangle how genetic additive effects, biomechanics, developmental bias, and allometry influence skeletal diversity, (2) investigate ecomorphological convergence and its effects on evolutionary integration between skeletal systems, and (3) examine how paleoenvironmental changes influenced the tempo and mode of carnivoran skeletal diversity.