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A quantitative approach to the cranial ontogeny of Lycalopex culpaeus (Carnivora: Canidae)

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Abstract

The study of cranial ontogeny is important for understanding the relationship between form and function in developmental, ecological, and evolutionary contexts. The transition from lactation to the diet of adult carnivores must be accompanied by pronounced modifications in skull morphology and feeding behavior. Our goal was to study relative growth and development in the skull ontogeny of the canid Lycalopex culpaeus, and interpret our findings in a functional context, thereby exploring the relationship between changes in shape and size with dietary habits and age stages. We performed quantitative analyses, including multivariate allometry and geometric morphometrics. Our results indicate that shape changes are related to functional improvements of the jaw mechanics related for food catching/processing. Estimates of full muscle size, mechanical advantage, and adult cranial shape are reached after sexual maturity, while adult mandible and skull size are reached after weaning, which is related to diet change (incorporation of meat and other food items). The ontogenetic pattern observed in L. culpaeus is similar to those observed in Canis familiaris and C. latrans. However, the magnitude of change seen in L. culpaeus is smaller than those seen in the felid Puma concolor and considerably smaller than those seen in the bone cracker hyaenid Crocuta crocuta. These patterns are associated with dietary habits and specializations in skull anatomy, as L. culpaeus, domestic dog and coyote are generalist species compared with hypercarnivores such as C. crocuta and P. concolor.

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Acknowledgments

We thank David Flores for the permission to study the material under his care; to Pablo Teta for his drawings of L. culpaeus skulls; to Erika Hingst-Zaher, Amelia Chemisquy, and David Flores for their critical revision of the preliminary version of this manuscript and to Cecilia Morgan for her revision of English grammar. We also thank to three anonymous reviewers who provided many helpful suggestions to this study. This research was partially supported by CONICET (PIP 01054) and ANPCyT (PICT 2008-1798).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. División Mastozoología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, CP 1405, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Valentina Segura & Francisco Prevosti

  2. CONICET. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Valentina Segura & Francisco Prevosti

Authors
  1. Valentina Segura
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  2. Francisco Prevosti
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Valentina Segura.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Bartolomaeus.

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Supplementary material 1 (DOC 80 kb)

435_2012_145_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Fig. S1. Boxplots of skull centroid size vs. age classes of Lycalopex culpaeus, for dorsal (A), lateral (B), ventral (C), and mandible (D) view. The boxplots include median, upper, and lower quartiles (75 and 25%, respectively), minimum and maximum. Supplementary material 2 (TIFF 382 kb)

435_2012_145_MOESM3_ESM.tif

Fig. S2. Boxplots of skull procrustes distance of each specimen of all age classes Lycalopex culpaeus to the mean of J1 class, for dorsal (A), lateral (B), ventral (C), and mandible (D) view. The boxplots include median, upper, and lower quartiles (75 and 25%, respectively), minimum and maximum. Supplementary material 3 (TIFF 358 kb)

435_2012_145_MOESM4_ESM.tif

Fig. S3. Boxplots of mechanical advantage of masseter and temporal muscles (in-levers of masseteric and temporal muscles/out-lever at canine and carnassial) vs. age classes of Lycalopex culpaeus. Zygomatic breadth (A), mechanical advantage of masseter muscle measure at the canine (B), mechanical advantage of masseter muscle measure at the carnassial (C), mechanical advantage of temporal muscle measure at the canine (D), and mechanical advantage of temporal muscle measure at the carnassial (E). The boxplots include median, upper, and lower quartiles (75 and 25%, respectively), minimum and maximum. Supplementary material 4 (TIFF 429 kb)

Appendices

Appendix 1

Specimens of Lycalopex culpaeus of Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia (MACN) used in this study

15022; 15024; 15025; 15028; 15033; 15037; 15040; 15044; 15045; 15049; 15050;15055; 15062; 15063; 15064; 15073; 15078; 15081; 15082; 15083; 15089; 15093; 15096; 15101; 15106; 15112; 15119; 15121; 15122; 15123; 15124; 15127; 15129; 15130; 15131; 15132; 15133; 15138; 15140; 15149; 15151; 15154; 15158; 15163; 15168; 15172; 15173; 15177; 15180; 15181; 15182; 15190; 15194; 15196; 15197; 15199; 15200; 15201; 15202; 15203; 15208; 15212; 15220; 15223; 15224; 15226; 15227; 15228; 15229; 15232; 15233; 15240; 15243; 15246; 15248; 15258; 15259; 15260; 15261; 15266; 15267; 15268; 23072; 23076; 23077; 23093; 23095; 23098; 23099; 23100; 23101; 23102; 23103; 23104; 23108; 23119; 23123; 23125; 23143; 23148; 23152.

Appendix 2

Definition of the landmarks and semi-landmarks used in the geometric morphometric analyses (see Fig. 1)

Dorsal landmarks: 1, tip of premaxilla in the sutura interincisiva; 2, anterior portion of the nasals in the sutura internasalis; 3, midline of sutura frontonasalis; 4, intersection between sutura coronalis, sutura sagittalis, and sutura interfrontalis; 5, tip of occipital plate; 6–16, semi-landmarks; 17, tip of the supraorbital process; 18–24, semi-landmarks; 25, lacrimal foramen; 26–31, semi-landmarks; 32, tip of the infraorbital process; 33–37, semi-landmarks; 38, apex of canine root; 39, nasal process; 40, anterior contact of sutura nasomaxillaris; 41, posterior contact of sutura nasomaxillaris; 42, apex of sutura frontomaxillaris.

Ventral landmarks: 1, anterior tip of premaxilla; 2, midline in Sutura incisivomaxillaris; 3, midline in Sutura palatomaxillaris; 4, posterior point of palatine torus; 5, anterior point of intercondyloid incisure; 6, internal apex of occipital condyle; 7, apex of jugular process. 8, tip of mastoid process; 9, internal apex of tympanic bulla; 10, anterior apex of tympanic bulla; 11–14, semi-landmarks; 15, tip of postglenoid process; 16, internal edge of masseteric fossa; 17, caudal apex of border of palatine; 18, external edge of masseteric fossa; 19, anterior edge of masseteric fossa; 20–30, semi-landmarks.

Lateral landmarks: 1, tip of premaxilla; 2–3, semi-landmarks; 4, apex of sutura frontomaxillaris; 5–8, semi-landmarks; 9, posterior point between sagittal and nuchal crests; 10, apex of occipital condyle; 11, tip of paracondylar process; 12, point between nuchal crest and mastoid process; 13, apex of tympanic bulla; 14–17, semi-landmarks; 18, tip of infraorbital process; 19–20, semi-landmarks; 21, lacrimal foramen; 22–23, semi-landmarks; 24, tip of the supraorbital process; 25, tip of Postglenoid process; 26, posterior point of pterygoid; 27–29, semi-landmarks; 30, posterior tip of dentary row; 31, notch of carnassial; and 32–33, semi-landmarks.

Mandibular landmarks: 1, anterior tip of body of mandible; 2–9, semi-landmarks; 10, posterior tip of coronoid process; 11, mandibular notch; 12, anterior point of masseteric fossa; 13, external point of condyloid process; 14, separation between condyloid and angular process; 15, tip of angular process; 16–22, semi-landmarks.

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Segura, V., Prevosti, F. A quantitative approach to the cranial ontogeny of Lycalopex culpaeus (Carnivora: Canidae). Zoomorphology 131, 79–92 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-012-0145-4

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