Data from: Different evolutionary pathways lead to incomplete convergence of elongate body shapes in carnivoran mammals

Although convergence is often recognized as a ubiquitous feature across
the Tree of Life, whether the underlying traits also exhibit similar
evolutionary pathways towards convergent forms puzzles biologists. In
carnivoran mammals, “elongate,” “slender,” and “long” are often used to
describe and even to categorize mustelids (martens, polecats, and
weasels), herpestids (mongooses), viverrids (civets and genets), and other
carnivorans together. But just how similar these carnivorans are and
whether there is convergence in the morphological component that
contribute to elongation has never been assessed. Here, I found that these
qualitatively-described elongate carnivorans exhibited incomplete
convergence towards elongate bodies compared to other terrestrial
carnivorans. In contrast, the morphological components underlying body
shape variation do not exhibit convergence despite evidence that these
components are more elongate in elongate carnivorans compared to
non-elongate carnivorans. Furthermore, these components also exhibited
shorter but different phylogenetic half-lives towards more elongate
adaptive peaks, indicating that different selective pressures can create
multiple pathways to elongation. Incorporating the fossil record will
facilitate further investigation of whether body elongation evolved
adaptively or if it is simply a retained ancestral trait.