Conserved patterns and locomotor-related evolutionary constraints in the hominoid vertebral column

The evolution of the hominoid lineage is characterized by pervasive homoplasy, notably in regions such as the vertebral column, which plays a central role in body support and locomotion. Few isolated and fewer associated vertebrae are known for most fossil hominoid taxa, but identified specimens indicate potentially high levels of convergence in terms of both form and number. Homoplasy thus complicates attempts to identify the anatomy of the last common ancestor of hominins and other taxa and stymies reconstructions of evolutionary scenarios. One way to clarify the role of homoplasy is by investigating constraints via phenotypic integration, which assesses covariation among traits, shapes evolutionary pathways, and itself evolves in response to selection. We assessed phenotypic integration and evolvability across the subaxial (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral) vertebral column of macaques (n = 96), gibbons (n = 77), chimpanzees (n = 92), and modern humans (n = 151). We found a mid-..., This dataset includes linear data from the subaxial vertebral column (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral) of 96 Macaca mulatta, 76 Hylobates lar, 92 Pan troglodytes, and 29 Homo sapiens individuals. 
Data were collected using a Mitutoyo Digital Caliper accurate to 0.02 mm and are reported in millimeters (mm). \".\" is used to denote a decimal throughout. Raw linear data are provided for all available elements for each individual. Missing data is noted with 'NA' and indicates the element or trait was missing. Intraobserver error ranges between 1.06-1.28%. 
Not all individuals display the modal formula for that taxon. Vertebral IDs have been adjusted as described in the associated manuscript and README file.
Human data from the British Museum are anonymized., Files are uploaded as .CSV files., # Conserved patterns and locomotor-related evolutionary constraints in the hominoid vertebral column
Catalina I. Villamil, Emily R. Middleton

We include four separate files, one for each taxon: homo.csv, pan.csv, hylobates.csv, macaca.csv

Data are provided in CSV files with each row representing one individual. Data are organized by column.

All taxa have 7 cervical elements modally. The modal formula for *Homo* is 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, and 5 sacral (12T:5L:5S) elements, for *Pan* is 13T:4L:6S, for *Hylobates* is 13T:5L:4S, and for *Macaca* is 12T:7L:3S. Vertebral IDs for individuals with nonmodal formulae have been adjusted as follows:

* We removed T7 from analyses for individuals with an extra thoracic segment, and moved subsequent thoracic vertebrae up in the sequence (T8 treated as T7, T9 treated as T8, etc.)
* We treated T7 as missing for individuals with fewer than the modal number of thoracic elements and moved subsequent elements down in nthe sequeence (T7 treated as T8,...