Digging adaptation in insectivorous subterranean eutherians. The enigma of Mesoscalops montanensis unveiled by geometric morphometrics and finite element analysis. (30th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Piras, Paolo; Sansalone, Gabriele; Teresi, Luciano; Moscato, Marco; Profico, Antonio; Eng, Ronald; Cox, Timothy C.; Loy, Anna; Colangelo, Paolo; Kotsakis, Tassos
• Is Part Of: Journal of morphology. Volume 276:Number 10(2015:Oct.)
• Page Start: 1157
• Page End: 1171
• Publication Date: 2015-06-30
• Subjects: Morphology -- Periodicals; Physiology -- Periodicals; Anatomy -- Periodicals; 571.3
• DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20405
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0362-2525

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>The enigmatic Early Miocene fossorial mammal <italic>Mesoscalops montanensis</italic> shows one of the most modified humeri among terrestrial mammals. It has been suggested, on qualitative considerations, that this species has no extant homologues for humerus kinematics and that, functionally, the closest extant group is represented by Chrysochloridae. We combine here three dimensional geometric morphometrics, finite element analysis and phylogenetic comparative methods to explore the shape and mechanical stress states of <italic>Mesoscalops montanensis</italic> as well as of extant and extinct Talpidae and Chrysochloridae under realistic digging simulations. Evolutionary convergence analyses reveal that the shape of <italic>Mesoscalops montanensis</italic> represents a unique morphology in the context of fossorial mammals and that its functional performance, albeit superficially similar to that of extant Chrysochloridae, still represents a nonconvergent optimum for adaptation to digging. J. Morphol. 276:1157–1171, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</p> </abstract>