The neck as a keystone structure in avian macroevolution and mosaicism

BackgroundThe origin of birds from non-avian theropod dinosaur ancestors required a comprehensive restructuring of the body plan to enable the evolution of powered flight. One of the proposed key mechanisms that allowed birds to acquire flight and modify the associated anatomical structures into diverse forms is mosaic evolution, which describes the parcelization of phenotypic traits into separate modules that evolve with heterogeneous tempo and mode. Avian mosaicism has been investigated with a focus on the cranial and appendicular skeleton, and as such we don’t understand the role of the axial column in avian macroevolution. The long, flexible neck of extant birds lies between the cranial and pectoral modules and represents an opportunity to study the contribution of the axial skeleton to avian mosaicism. ResultsHere we use 3D geometric morphometrics in tandem with phylogenetic comparative methods to provide, to our knowledge, the first integrative analysis of avian neck evolution in ..., , , This README file was generated on 05-03-2024 by Ryan Marek.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Title of Dataset: The neck as a keystone structure in avian macroevolution and mosaicism

2. Author Information
A. Corresponding Author
Name: Ryan D. Marek
Institution: University College London
Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])
Twitter/X: @ryndmrk

B. Associate or Co-Investigator
Name: Ryan N. Felice
Institution: University College London
Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

3. Date of data collection (approximate): 2021-2023

4. Funding sources that supported the collection of this project: Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant, award number 182676

SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION

1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: This work is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license.
2. Links to publication that cites this data: Marek, R. D., & Felice, R. N. (2023). The neck as a key...