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Locomotor Mode and the Evolution of the Hindlimb in Western Mediterranean Anurans

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Abstract

The evolutionary association between morphology, locomotor performance and habitat use is a central element of the ecomorphological paradigm, and it is known to underlie the evolution of phenotypic diversity in numerous animal taxa. In anuran amphibians the hindlimb acts as the propulsive agent, and as such, it is directly associated with jumping performance. In this study we combine individual- and species-level analyses to examine the effects of locomotor mode on body size and hindlimb morphology of Western Mediterranean anurans. In addition to the commonly studied hindlimb traits, we also examine the ratio between tibiofibula and femur length. Body size shows no signs of an evolutionary association to locomotor mode. Instead, hindlimb traits are significantly differentiated between locomotor groups, both at the individual and species levels. Specifically, we observe a gradient of tibiofibula to femur ratio values that matches biomechanical predictions. The analysis of adult static allometries indicates that these differences arise early in ontogeny. By comparing the fit of distinct evolutionary models we provide evidence that the locomotor mode adopted by each species to match the requirements of the habitat it frequents has shaped the evolution of the hindlimb, but not body size.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales and Jenar Fèlix Franquesa for specimen loans. We are grateful to Ivan Gomez-Mestre and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the manuscript. UEU was supported by a Ph.D. grant (BES-2013-063203) from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MEC). AK was supported by a post-doctoral Grant (SFRH/BPD/68493/2010) by Fundação para a Ciéncia e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), and partially by project “Biodiversity, Ecology and Global Change” co-financed by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme 2007/2013 (ON.2–O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, Universidad de Oviedo, Catedrático Rodrigo Uría s/n, 33006, Oviedo, Spain

    Urtzi Enriquez-Urzelai

  2. Research Unit of Biodiversity (UO-CSIC-PA), Campus de Mieres, Edificio de Investigación, Gonzalo Gutiérrez Quirós s/n, 33600, Mieres, Spain

    Urtzi Enriquez-Urzelai

  3. Departament de Biologia Animal-IRBIO-., Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda Diagonal 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Albert Montori & Gustavo A. Llorente

  4. CIBIO Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, InBIO, University of Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Vila do Conde, Portugal

    Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou

  5. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou

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  1. Urtzi Enriquez-Urzelai
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  2. Albert Montori
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  3. Gustavo A. Llorente
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  4. Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou
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Correspondence to Urtzi Enriquez-Urzelai.

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Enriquez-Urzelai, U., Montori, A., Llorente, G.A. et al. Locomotor Mode and the Evolution of the Hindlimb in Western Mediterranean Anurans. Evol Biol 42, 199–209 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-015-9311-1

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