Data from: Microanatomy of the amniote femur and inference of lifestyle in limbed vertebrates

The femoral microanatomy of 155 species of extant amniotes (57 species of mammals, 15 species of turtles, 56 species of lepidosaurs, and 27 species of birds) of known lifestyle is studied to demonstrate a possible link between some basic parameters of bone structure and specific lifestyles, as well as phylogenetic relationships between taxa. Squared change parsimony with random taxon reshuffling and pairwise comparisons reveal that most compactness and size parameters exhibit both phylogenetic and ecological signals. A discriminant analysis produces several inference models, including a ternary model (aquatic, amphibious, terrestrial) that yield the correct lifestyle in 88% of the cases. These models are used to infer the lifestyle of three extinct Permian temnospondyls: Eryops megacephalus, Acheloma dunni, and Trimerorhachis insignis.本研究针对155种已知生活方式的现存羊膜动物（amniotes）展开股骨显微解剖结构（femoral microanatomy）分析，涵盖哺乳类57种、龟类15种、鳞龙类56种及鸟类27种，旨在揭示骨骼结构的部分基础参数与特定生活方式间的潜在关联，以及各分类类群间的系统发育关系。采用随机类群重排（random taxon reshuffling）的平方变化简约法（squared change parsimony）与成对比较分析（pairwise comparisons）开展研究，结果显示绝大多数骨密性与尺寸参数同时携带系统发育与生态信号。判别分析（discriminant analysis）构建了多套生活方式推断模型，其中包括可将样本准确归类为水生、半水生、陆生三类的三元分类模型（ternary model），该模型的分类准确率可达88%。利用上述模型对三种已灭绝的二叠纪离片椎目（Temnospondyli）物种——大头引螈（Eryops megacephalus）、邓氏阿切洛莫螈（Acheloma dunni）以及饰纹三叠螈（Trimerorhachis insignis）的生活方式进行了推断。