Departamento de Biología Vegetal, Universidad de Vigo, 36 310 Vigo, Spain.
J Evol Biol. 2013 Sep;26(9):1925-33. doi: 10.1111/jeb.12190. Epub 2013 Aug 14.
Comparative correlational studies of brain size and ecological traits (e.g. feeding habits and habitat complexity) have increased our knowledge about the selective pressures on brain evolution. Studies conducted in bats as a model system assume that shared evolutionary history has a maximum effect on the traits. However, this effect has not been quantified. In addition, the effect of levels of diet specialization on brain size remains unclear. We examined the role of diet on the evolution of brain size in Mormoopidae and Phyllostomidae using two comparative methods. Body mass explained 89% of the variance in brain volume. The effect of feeding behaviour (either characterized as feeding habits, as levels of specialization on a type of item or as handling behaviour) on brain volume was also significant albeit not consistent after controlling for body mass and the strength of the phylogenetic signal (λ). Although the strength of the phylogenetic signal of brain volume and body mass was high when tested individually, λ values in phylogenetic generalized least squares models were significantly different from 1. This suggests that phylogenetic independent contrasts models are not always the best approach for the study of ecological correlates of brain size in New World bats.
比较相关研究大脑大小和生态特征（如饮食习惯和栖息地复杂性）增加了我们对大脑进化的选择压力的了解。在蝙蝠作为模型系统中进行的研究假设，共同的进化历史对特征有最大的影响。然而，这种影响尚未量化。此外，饮食专业化水平对大脑大小的影响仍不清楚。我们使用两种比较方法研究了饮食对 Mormoopidae 和 Phyllostomidae 大脑大小进化的作用。体重解释了脑容量变化的 89%。尽管在控制体重和系统发育信号强度（λ）后，进食行为（表现为饮食习惯、某种食物的专业化水平或处理行为）对脑容量的影响也很显著，但并不一致。虽然单独测试时脑容量和体重的系统发育信号强度很高，但在系统发育广义最小二乘模型中，λ 值与 1 显著不同。这表明，对于研究新世界蝙蝠的大脑大小与生态相关因素，系统发育独立对比模型并不总是最佳方法。
