Department of Biology, FFCLRP, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
J Evol Biol. 2011 Nov;24(11):2423-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02372.x. Epub 2011 Aug 23.
Habitat usage comprises interactions between ecological parameters and organismal capacities, and the selective pressures that ultimately determine the outcome of such processes in an evolutionary scale may be conflicting when the same morphological structure is recruited for different activities. Here, we investigate the roles of diet and locomotion in the evolution of cranial design in gymnophthalmid lizards and test the hypothesis that microhabitat use drives head shape evolution, particularly in head-first burrowers. Morphological factors were analysed in relation to continuous ecological indexes (prey hardness and substrate compactness) using conventional and phylogenetic approaches. Results suggest that the evolution of head morphology in Gymnophthalmidae was shaped under the influence of microhabitat use rather than diet: burrowers have shorter heads with lower rostral angulation, independently of the prey consumed. Food preferences appear to be relatively conserved throughout the phylogeny of the group, which may have permitted the extensive radiation of gymnophthalmids into fossorial microhabitats.
生境利用包括生态参数和生物能力之间的相互作用，以及在进化尺度上最终决定这些过程结果的选择压力，当同一形态结构被用于不同的活动时，这些压力可能会相互冲突。在这里，我们研究了饮食和运动在平胸龟科蜥蜴头部设计进化中的作用，并检验了这样一个假设，即微生境利用驱动头部形状进化，特别是在头部优先的穴居蜥蜴中。使用传统和系统发育方法，我们将形态因素与连续的生态指标（猎物硬度和基质紧密度）进行了分析。结果表明，平胸龟科的头部形态进化是在微生境利用的影响下形成的，而不是饮食：穴居蜥蜴的头部更短，吻部角度更低，这与它们所食用的猎物无关。在该组的整个系统发育过程中，食物偏好似乎相对保守，这可能允许平胸龟科广泛辐射到穴居微生境。
