Assessment of trophic ecomorphology in non-alligatoroid crocodylians and its adaptive and taxonomic implications

Journal of Anatomy
Masaya Iijima

Abstract

Although the establishment of trophic ecomorphology in living crocodylians can contribute to estimating feeding habits of extinct large aquatic reptiles, assessment of ecomorphological traits other than the snout shape has scarcely been conducted in crocodylians. Here, I tested the validity of the proposed trophic ecomorphological traits in crocodylians by examining the correlation between those traits and the snout shape (an established trophic ecomorphology), using 10 non-alligatoroid crocodylian species with a wide range of snout shape. I then compared the ontogenetic scaling of trophic ecomorphology to discuss its adaptive and taxonomic significance. The results demonstrated that degree of heterodonty, tooth spacing, size of supratemporal fenestra (STF), ventral extension of pterygoid flange and length of lower jaw symphysis are significantly correlated with snout shape by both non-phylogenetic and phylogenetic regression analyses. Gavialis gangeticus falls outside of 95% prediction intervals for the relationships of some traits and the snout shape, suggesting that piscivorous specialization involves the deviation from the typical transformation axis of skull characters. The comparative snout shape ontogeny revealed a unive...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 17, 2018·Royal Society Open Science·Masaya IijimaYoshitsugu Kobayashi
Oct 1, 2019·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·Pedro L Godoy
Jun 11, 2021·Scientific Reports·Jorgo RistevskiSteven W Salisbury
Sep 24, 2021·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Paul M GignacHaley D O'Brien
Nov 16, 2021·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Adam P CossetteThomas DeGuzman

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