Data from: Skull morphology diverges between urban and rural populations of red foxes mirroring patterns of domestication and macroevolution

Human activity is drastically altering the habitat use of natural
populations. This has been documented as a driver of phenotypic divergence
in a number of wild animal populations. Here we show that urban and rural
populations of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from London and surrounding
boroughs are divergent in skull traits. These changes are primarily found
to be involved with snout length, with urban individuals tending to have
shorter and wider muzzles relative to rural individuals, smaller
braincases, and reduced sexual dimorphism. Changes were widespread and
related to muscle attachment sites and thus are likely driven by differing
biomechanical demands of feeding or cognition between habitats. Through
extensive sampling of the genus Vulpes, we found no support for
phylogenetic effects on skull morphology, but patterns of divergence found
between urban and rural habitats in V. vulpes quantitatively aligned with
macroevolutionary divergence between species. The patterns of skull
divergence between urban and rural habitats matched the description of
morphological changes that can occur during domestication. Specifically,
urban populations of foxes show variation consistent with ‘domestication
syndrome’. Therefore, we suggest that occurrences of phenotypic divergence
in relation to human activity, while interesting themselves, also have the
potential to inform us of the conditions and mechanisms that could
initiate domestication. Finally, this also suggests that patterns of
domestication may be developmentally biased toward larger patterns of
interspecific divergence.