Evolutionary implications of dental anomalies in bats

The gain or loss of anatomical features is an important mechanism of morphological evolution and ecological adaptation. Dental anomalies –the loss or gain of teeth– are widespread and a potential source of craniodental specialization among mammals, yet their macroevolutionary patterns have been rarely explored. We present the first phylogenetic comparative study of dental anomalies across the second largest mammal Order, Chiroptera (bats). We conducted an extensive literature review and surveyed a large sample of museum specimens to analyze the types and prevalence of dental anomalies across bats, and performed phylogenetic comparative analyses to investigate the role of phylogenetic history and dietary specialization on incidence of dental anomalies. We found dental anomalies have a significant phylogenetic signal, suggesting they are not simply the result of idiosyncratic mutations or random developmental disorders, but may have ancestral genetic origins or result from shared developm...解剖特征的得失是形态演化与生态适应的重要机制。牙齿异常——即牙齿的丢失或新增——在哺乳动物中广泛分布，且可能是哺乳动物颅齿特化的潜在驱动因素，然而目前针对其宏观演化模式的研究却鲜有开展。本研究首次针对哺乳动物第二大目——翼手目（Chiroptera，蝙蝠）——开展牙齿异常的系统发育比较研究。本研究通过大规模文献综述与大量馆藏标本抽样调查，分析了蝙蝠类群中牙齿异常的类型与出现率，并开展系统发育比较分析，以探究系统发育历史与食性特化对牙齿异常发生率的影响。研究发现，牙齿异常具有显著的系统发育信号，这表明其并非单纯由特异性突变或随机发育紊乱所致，而是可能具有祖先遗传起源，或源于共享的发育……