Geiger Madeleine, Sánchez-Villagra Marcelo R, Sherratt Emma
Paleontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Naturmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland.
J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol. 2022 Dec;338(8):532-541. doi: 10.1002/jez.b.23171. Epub 2022 Aug 7.
Domestication leads to phenotypic characteristics that have been described to be similar across species. However, this "domestication syndrome" has been subject to debate, related to a lack of evidence for certain characteristics in many species. Here we review diverse literature and provide new data on cranial shape changes due to domestication in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as a preliminary case study, thus contributing novel evidence to the debate. We quantified cranial shape of 30 wild and domestic rabbits using micro-computed tomography scans and three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. The goal was to test (1) if the domesticates exhibit shorter and broader snouts, smaller teeth, and smaller braincases than their wild counterparts; (2) to what extent allometric scaling is responsible for cranial shape variation; (3) if there is evidence for more variation in the neural crest-derived parts of the cranium compared with those derived of the mesoderm, in accordance with the "neural crest hypothesis." Our own data are consistent with older literature records, suggesting that although there is evidence for some cranial characteristics of the "domestication syndrome" in rabbits, facial length is not reduced. In accordance with the "neural crest hypothesis," we found more shape variation in neural crest versus mesoderm-derived parts of the cranium. Within the domestic group, allometric scaling relationships of the snout, the braincase, and the teeth shed new light on ubiquitous patterns among related taxa. This study-albeit preliminary due to the limited sample size-adds to the growing evidence concerning nonuniform patterns associated with domestication.
驯化会导致出现一些表型特征，这些特征在不同物种间被描述为相似的。然而，这种“驯化综合征”一直存在争议，因为许多物种缺乏某些特征的证据。在这里，我们回顾了各种文献，并提供了关于欧洲兔（穴兔）驯化导致颅骨形状变化的新数据，作为一个初步的案例研究，从而为这场争论提供了新的证据。我们使用微计算机断层扫描和三维几何形态测量法对30只野生和家养兔子的颅骨形状进行了量化。目的是测试：（1）家养兔子的口鼻部是否比野生兔子更短更宽、牙齿更小、脑壳更小；（2）异速生长缩放对颅骨形状变化的影响程度；（3）根据“神经嵴假说”，与中胚层衍生的部分相比，颅骨中神经嵴衍生的部分是否有更多变异的证据。我们自己的数据与早期文献记录一致，表明虽然有证据表明兔子存在“驯化综合征”的一些颅骨特征，但面部长度并未缩短。根据“神经嵴假说”，我们发现颅骨中神经嵴衍生部分比中胚层衍生部分的形状变异更多。在家养组中，口鼻部、脑壳和牙齿的异速生长缩放关系为相关分类群中普遍存在的模式提供了新的线索。尽管由于样本量有限，这项研究只是初步的，但它为越来越多与驯化相关的非统一模式的证据增添了内容。
