Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Fukui Prefectural University, 4-1-1 Matsuoka Kenjojima, Eiheiji, Fukui, 910-1195, Japan.
Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2022 Sep 5;12(1):14429. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-18222-8.
The morphology of lizard skulls is highly diverse, and it is crucial to understand the factors that constrain and promote their evolution to understand how lizards thrive. The results of interactions between cranial bones reflecting these factors can be detected as integration and modularity, and the analysis of integration and modularity allows us to explore the underlying factors. In this study, the integration and modularity of the skulls of lizards and the outgroup tuatara are analyzed using a new method, Anatomical Network Analysis (AnNA), and the factors causing lizards morphological diversity are investigated by comparing them. The comparison of modular structures shows that lizard skulls have high integration and anisomerism, some differences but basically common modular patterns. In contrast, the tuatara shows a different modular pattern from lizards. In addition, the presence of the postorbital bar by jugal and postorbital (postorbitofrontal) also reflect various functional factors by maintaining low integration. The maintenance of basic structures due to basic functional requirements and changes in integration within the modules play a significant role in increasing the morphological diversity of the lizard skull and in the prosperity of the lizards.
蜥蜴头骨的形态高度多样化，理解制约和促进其进化的因素对于了解蜥蜴如何繁荣至关重要。反映这些因素的颅骨之间相互作用的结果可以被检测为整合和模块性，而整合和模块性的分析可以帮助我们探索潜在的因素。在这项研究中，使用一种新方法——解剖网络分析（AnNA）来分析蜥蜴和外群楔齿蜥头骨的整合和模块性，并通过比较来研究导致蜥蜴形态多样性的因素。模块结构的比较表明，蜥蜴的头骨具有高度的整合和各向异性，存在一些差异，但基本具有共同的模块模式。相比之下，楔齿蜥的头骨与蜥蜴的模式不同。此外，由颧骨和眶后骨（眶额前骨）形成的眶后骨棒也通过保持低整合来反映各种功能因素。由于基本功能需求而维持基本结构以及模块内整合的变化，在增加蜥蜴头骨的形态多样性和蜥蜴的繁荣方面发挥了重要作用。
