Data from: A multiple peak adaptive landscape based on feeding strategies and roosting ecology shaped the evolution of cranial covariance structure and morphological differentiation in phyllostomid bats

We explored the evolution of morphological integration in the most
noteworthy example of adaptive radiation in mammals, the New World
leaf-nosed bats, using a massive dataset and by combining phylogenetic
comparative methods and quantitative genetic approaches. We demonstrated
that the phenotypic covariance structure remained conserved on a broader
phylogenetic scale but also showed a substantial divergence between
inter-clade comparisons. Most of the phylogenetic structure in the
integration space can be explained by splits at the beginning of the
diversification of major clades. Our results provide evidence for a
multiple peak adaptive landscape in the evolution of cranial covariance
structure and morphological differentiation, based upon diet and roosting
ecology. In this scenario, the successful radiation of phyllostomid bats
was triggered by the diversification of dietary and roosting strategies,
and the invasion of these new adaptive zones lead to changes in phenotypic
covariance structure and average morphology. Our results suggest that
intense natural selection preceded the invasion of these new adaptive
zones and played a fundamental role in shaping cranial covariance
structure and morphological differentiation in this hyper-diverse clade of
mammals. Finally, our study demonstrates the power of combining
comparative methods and quantitative genetic approaches when investigating
the evolution of complex morphologies.