小柯机器人

英国牛津大学Roger B. J. Benson等研究人员合作揭示鸟类骨骼进化多样化中的环境信号。相关论文于2022年10月26日在线发表在《自然》杂志上。

研究人员分析了现存鸟类的形态多样化，这是一个生态多样化的群体，并记录了从“泛骨骼”比例到单个骨骼的局部三维形状变化的结构尺度。研究人员发现鸟类亚群之间和骨骼部分之间的演化模式有很大的差异，表明广泛的镶嵌性和地球主要环境中宏观演化景观结构的可能差异。与水有关的群体，特别是Aequorlitornithes（水鸟），反复地探索了其总形态空间的很大一部分，并强调了身体比例和接近身体核心的骨骼形状的变化，这与运动的力学功能有关。

相比之下，陆生鸟类（Inopinaves）在K-Pg之后的早期就演化出独特的、群体特有的身体形态，随后强调局部形状的变化，特别是头部和四肢远端骨骼的变化，这些骨骼与环境的互动更为直接。占所有鸟类物种一半以上的鸟类显示出一种保守的演化动态，导致所有骨骼部分的低差异性。对于一些骨骼部分，包括喙和组合骨骼形态，早期建立活鸟形态空间的证据是明确的。然而，研究人员发现几乎没有证据表明该形态空间的早期划分，这与“生态位填充”的具体预测相反。然而，广泛环境类型之间的早期分化可能引起了演化模式的早期分化，这表明环境分化在构建鸟类总群的辐射中起着重要作用。

据介绍，描述演化速度和模式的变化如何构建现存物种的表型多样性是宏观演化的一个核心目标。然而，研究通常局限于少数性状，提供不完整的信息。

附：英文原文

Title: Environmental signal in the evolutionary diversification of bird skeletons

Author: Navaln, Guillermo, Bjarnason, Alexander, Griffiths, Elizabeth, Benson, Roger B. J.

Issue&Volume: 2022-10-26

Abstract: Characterizing how variation in the tempo and mode of evolution has structured the phenotypic diversity of extant species is a central goal of macroevolution1,2,3. However, studies are typically limited to a handful of traits4,5,6, providing incomplete information. We analyse morphological diversification in living birds, an ecologically diverse group7, documenting structural scales from ‘pan-skeletal’ proportions down to the localized three-dimensional shape changes of individual bones. We find substantial variation in evolutionary modes among avian subgroups and among skeletal parts, indicating widespread mosaicism and possible differences in the structure of the macroevolutionary landscape across Earth’s main environments. Water-linked groups, especially Aequorlitornithes (waterbirds), have repeatedly explored a large portion of their total morphospace, emphasizing variation in body proportions and in the shape of bones close to the body core, which are functionally related to the mechanics of locomotion8. By contrast, landbirds (Inopinaves) evolved distinct, group-specific body forms early in the aftermath of the K-Pg and subsequently emphasized local shape variation, especially in the head and distal limb bones, which interact more directly with the environment. Passerines, which comprise more than half of all bird species, show a conservative evolutionary dynamic that resulted in low disparity across all skeletal parts. Evidence for early establishment of the morphospace of living birds is clear for some skeletal parts, including beaks and the combined skeletal morphology. However, we find little evidence for early partitioning of that morphospace, contrary to more specific predictions of ‘niche-filling’ models1,9. Nevertheless, early divergence among broad environmental types may have caused an early divergence of evolutionary modes, suggesting an important role for environmental divergence in structuring the radiation of crown-group birds.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05372-y

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05372-y

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
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