Skull evolution and lineage diversification in endemic Malagasy carnivorans

Madagascar is one of the world’s foremost biodiversity hotspots with more than 90% of its species endemic to the island. Malagasy carnivorans are one of only four extant terrestrial mammalian clades endemic to Madagascar. Although there are only eight extant species, these carnivorans exhibit remarkable phenotypic and ecological diversity that is often hypothesized to have diversified through an adaptive radiation. Here, we investigated the evolution of skull diversity in Malagasy carnivorans and tested if they exhibited characteristics of convergence and an adaptive radiation. We found that their skull disparity exceeds that of any other feliform family, as their skulls vary widely and strikingly capture a large amount of the morphological variation found across all feliforms. We also found evidence of shared adaptive zones in cranial shape between euplerid subclades and felids, herpestids, and viverrids. Lastly, contrary to predictions of adaptive radiation, we found that Malagasy car..., , , # Skull evolution and lineage diversification in endemic Malagasy carnivorans

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.x95x69psj](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.x95x69psj)

## Description of the data and file structure

cran_data.Rdata contains raw data from cranial analyses:

1. raw_cran_data = raw landmarks
2. tree_mcc = carnivoran phylogeny used for analyses (from Upham et al. 2019)
3. lm_pairs = identify matching landmark and semilandmark pairs (left and right side of the cranium)
4. cran_groups_data = categorize each feliform as catlike, civetlike, or mongoose-like for convergence comparisons
5. sliders = sliders file to indicate semilandmarks

mand_data.Rdata contains raw data from mandibular analyses:

1. raw_mand_data = raw landmarks
2. tree_mcc = carnivoran phylogeny used for analyses (from Upham et al. 2019)
3. lm_pairs = identify matching landmark and semilandmark pairs (left and right side of the mandible)
4. mand_groups_data = categorize each feliform as catlike, civetlike, ...