Roberts-Hugghis Alexus S, Martinez Christopher M, Corn Katherine A, Wainwright Peter C
Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States.
Aquatic Ecology and Macroevolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Evol Lett. 2024 Oct 8;9(1):24-40. doi: 10.1093/evlett/qrae046. eCollection 2025 Feb.
Modifications to the pharyngeal jaws-a prey processing system located posterior to the mouth cavity-are widely considered a key innovation that enhanced diversification within several prominent fish clades. Seen in cichlids, damselfishes, wrasses, and a few other lineages, these musculoskeletal alterations are believed to increase the evolutionary independence and, thus, the diversification of the oral and pharyngeal jaw systems. To test this classic hypothesis, we conducted comparative phylogenetic analyses to assess the effect of the pharyngeal novelty on the diversification of feeding morphology and kinematics across a taxonomically diverse sample of spiny-rayed fishes. We quantified movements of the oral jaws and other craniofacial structures from 689 suction-feeding strikes using high-speed videos collected from 228 species with and without the pharyngeal jaw novelty. Contradicting long-held predictions, we find significantly greater disparity across all traits and faster rates of oral jaw functional evolution in fishes without the specialized prey processing system. The modified pharyngeal jaw is undoubtedly a functional innovation as it enhances the strength of the prey processing system, facilitating exceptional transition rates to feeding on hard and tough prey. However, it also restricts the diversification of the feeding system, revealing that the impact of pharyngognathy is more nuanced than previously thought. In light of these and other recent findings, a reinterpretation of the macroevolutionary consequences of the pharyngeal jaw novelty is needed.
咽颌是位于口腔后方的一种猎物处理系统，对其进行的改造被广泛认为是一项关键创新，它促进了几个重要鱼类分支的多样化。在丽鱼科鱼类、雀鲷、隆头鱼以及其他一些谱系中都能看到这种肌肉骨骼的改变，人们认为这些改变增加了口腔颌系统和咽颌系统在进化上的独立性，进而促进了它们的多样化。为了验证这一经典假说，我们进行了系统发育比较分析，以评估咽颌创新对分类学上多样化的棘鳍鱼类样本中摄食形态和运动学多样化的影响。我们使用从228个具有和不具有咽颌创新的物种收集的高速视频，对689次吸食攻击中口腔颌和其他颅面结构的运动进行了量化。与长期以来的预测相反，我们发现，在没有专门猎物处理系统的鱼类中，所有性状的差异显著更大，口腔颌功能进化的速度也更快。改良后的咽颌无疑是一项功能创新，因为它增强了猎物处理系统的力量，促进了向以坚硬和坚韧猎物为食的异常转变速度。然而，它也限制了摄食系统的多样化，这表明咽颌骨的影响比以前认为的更为细微。鉴于这些及其他最新发现，有必要重新解释咽颌创新的宏观进化后果。
