Data from: Does nasal echolocation influence the modularity of the mammal skull?

In vertebrates, changes in cranial modularity can evolve rapidly in
response to selection. However, mammals have apparently maintained their
pattern of cranial integration throughout their evolutionary history and
across tremendous morphological and ecological diversity. Here, we use
phylogenetic, geometric morphometric and comparative analyses to test the
hypothesis that the modularity of the mammalian skull has been remodelled
in rhinolophid bats due to the novel and critical function of the nasal
cavity in echolocation. We predicted that nasal echolocation has resulted
in the evolution of a third cranial module, the ‘nasal dome’, in addition
to the braincase and rostrum modules, which are conserved across mammals.
We also test for similarities in the evolution of skull shape in relation
to habitat across rhinolophids. We find that, despite broad variation in
the shape of the nasal dome, the integration of the rhinolophid skull is
highly consistent with conserved patterns of modularity found in other
mammals. Across their broad geographical distribution, cranial shape in
rhinolophids follows two major divisions that could reflect adaptations to
dietary and environmental differences in African versus South Asian
distributions. Our results highlight the potential of a relatively simple
modular template to generate broad morphological and functional variation
in mammals.