Abstract
Post-natal ontogenetic variation of the marmot mandible and ventral cranium is investigated in two species of the subgenus Petromarmota (M. caligata, M. flaviventris) and four species of the subgenus Marmota (M. caudata, M. himalayana, M. marmota, M. monax). Relationships between size and shape are analysed using geometric morphometric techniques. Sexual dimorphism is negligible, allometry explains the main changes in shape during growth, and males and females manifest similar allometric trajectories. Anatomical regions affected by size-related shape variation are similar in different species, but allometric trajectories are divergent. The largest modifications of the mandible and ventral cranium occur in regions directly involved in the mechanics of mastication. Relative to other anatomical regions, the size of areas of muscle insertion increases, while the size of sense organs, nerves and teeth generally decreases. Epigenetic factors, developmental constraints and size variation were found to be the major contributors in producing the observed allometric patterns. A phylogenetic signal was not evident in the comparison of allometric trajectories, but traits that allow discrimination of the Palaearctic marmots from the Nearctic species of Petromarmota are present early in development and are conserved during post-natal ontogeny.
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Acknowledgements
Special thanks to P. Tongiorgi, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia; E. Capanna and M. Corti, University of Roma ‘La Sapienza’; V. Peracino, then Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, Torino; R. Ramousse, University of Lyon 1; K. B. Armitage, University of Kansas, Lawrence; S. Elton, University of Hull; R. Z. German, University of Cincinnati; L. Spezia, Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano; F. J. Rohlf, State University of New York; C. P.Klingenberg, University of Manchester; Kornelius Kupczik, University College London; M. L. Zelditch, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Charles Oxnard, University of Western Australia. Many other colleagues and friends contributed to our work. Thanks to: I. V. Rymalov, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow; H. Seidler and K. Schaefer, University of Vienna; S. Herring, University of Washington; P. Jenkins, and the mammal section staff of the British Museum of Natural History, London; L. Gordon and the other mammal curators of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington; M. Podestà, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Milano; A. O. Averianov, G. I. Baranova, K. Tsytsulina and the other very friendly colleagues of the Zoological Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg; and Dino Scaravelli, formerly Museo di Storia Naturale, Cesena. The manuscript was greatly improved thanks to helpful comments by M. Collyer, Iowa State Univrsity at Ames, L. R. Monteiro, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, and an anonymous referee.
This work was supported by grants from Italian Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica (Progetto Giovani Ricercatori Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia), and Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (borse Lincei — Royal Society) to A. Cardini.
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Abbreviations
USNM, National Museum of Natural History (Washington, USA); BMNHL, British Museum of Natural History (London, UK); ZIN, Zoological Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia); PNGP, National Park Gran Paradiso (Torino, Italy); SC, collection of Dino Scaravelli; DBA UMR, Department of Animal Biology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
M. caligata
USNM 42636, 42638, 42793, 48580, 53595, 66696, 66697, 66698, 68716, 72222, 72223, 72225, 72226, 72227, 72235, 74995, 74996, 74998, 76233, 81913, 88005, 88006, 90132, 90134, 96206, 96207, 96533, 97952, 97953, 98154, 101296, 101298, 101300, 114833, 127594, 135161, 135163, 137319, 146449, 170741, 174501, 174502, 174503, 202533, 202790, 221012, 226148, 226719, 230108, 233212, 235255, 235257, 235258, 271698, 271699, 271701; only mandible: BMNHL 593.a or 45.7.4.9, 593.c (or 62.12.12.7), USNM 67073; only skull: BMNHL 1398.b, 2.3.7.5, USNM 66695, 67076, 101299, 170682, 210830, 256660.
M. caudate
BNHML, 10.12.2.25, 5.10.8.2, 69.493, 76.3.9.3, 8.10.3.16, 8.7.6.27, 88.3.20.25, 9.4.3.112, 92.1.1.7, USNM 35497, 35498, 35500, 62112, 62114, 62116, 62117, 62118, 173377, 173380, 173381, 173382, 173383, 173384, 298212, 327143, 353196, 353197, 353199; only mandible: BMNHL 1937.6.12.7, 77.11.23.3, 91.5.16.2, 97.10.3.54, USNM 35499, 62115, 353200; only skull: BMNHL 89.3.9.7 (or 1963a), 9.4.3.111, ZIN 22535, 27912, 2805 or 15318, 29355, 32666, 40549, 40551, 40553, 40555, 51537, USNM 62113, 62119, 173376, 173378, 173385, 173386, 353198.
M. flaviventris
BMNHL 40.823, USNM 23951, 25523, 25524, 25527, 30143, 41419, 41914, 42080, 42112, 42122, 42368, 65920, 74057, 74373, 79365, 80360, 88243, 89312, 93688, 93689, 93690, 93708, 99759, 99760, 100532, 100533, 108792, 128750, 128753, 128754, 133505, 139082, 147183, 156923, 157828, 158033, 158500, 158980, 168477, 168799, 168883, 168884, 170148, 177297, 180918, 186520, 191366, 191367, 191369, 204891, 208268, 211232, 212471, 221896, 221898, 228271, 228273, 229842, 233382, 234960, 242645, 243663, 243664, 243665, 244551, 244552, 274340, 291192, 575170; only mandible: USNM 72565, 89311; only skull: USNM 41198, 41345, 42858, 42859, 93709, 94343, 168494, 202937, 215215, 498417.
M. himalayana
BMNHL 11.2.1.94, 11.2.1.95, 12.3.18.2, 22.9.1.82, 22.9.1.83, 22.9.1.85, 23.9.1.38, 23.9.1.40, 23.9.1.41, 36.4.12.6, 5.12.5.2, 5.12.5.3, 8.2.29.1, 8.7.6.30, 96.11.4.2, 96.11.4.9, USNM 62121, 62122, 84099, 84100, 84101, 84102, 84104, 102576, 144038, 144039, 144040, 144041, 144042, 144043, 198638, 240674, 240675, 240676, 240677, 255960, 259438, 259439, 573031, 573032, 573033, 573035, 573036, 573037, 576183, 576184; only mandible: BMNHL 11.10.3.5, 25.10.2.4, 26.10.12.1, 8.7.6.20, 91.10.7.98, 99.3.1.13, USNM 198637, 255959, 255961, 255962; only skull: BMNHL 23.9.1.39, 92.1.1.4, USNM 84103, 255958, 255963, 395249, 573034.
M. marmota
BMNHL 1087.a, 19.7.7.2363, 19.7.7.2859, 2.8.4.30, 2.8.4.31, 2.8.4.32, 2.8.4.33, 59.9.6.36 (or 1087.c), 7.1.1.131, 7.1.1.195, 7.4.19.1, 8.8.10.145, 8.8.10.63, 8.8.10.65, USNM 14336, 115219, 115220, 115221, 115222, MSNM Ma 4532, 6085, 6103, DBA UMR three specimens not in catalogue, SC 160, 173, 178, 182, 159(II), 175(I); only mandible: BMNHL 1087.b, 55.12.24.124, MSNM Ma 4501, 4799, 6084, 6104, PNGP 1 specimen not in catalogue, SC 6, 12, 15, 17, 32, 39, 40, 45, 158, 161, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 171, 149, 159(I), 21B, 25B, 26B, 29B, 2B (A1/2), 34B, 35B, 36B, 38B, A1/1 or B41, A7; only skull: BMNHL 8.8.10.64, PNGP 2 specimens not in catalogue, USNM 153386, DBA UMR 2 specimens not in catalogue, SC 175(II).
M. monax
BMNHL 19.7.7.2552, 1989.337, 1991.119, 36.11.6.30, 36.11.6.31, 36.11.6.34, 36.11.6.35, 592.b, 592.c, 592.d (or 51.8.16.19, 592.e, 6.1.6.6, MSNM Ma 4550, USNM 23033, 25184, 35361, 43560, 53920, 67692, 67693, 68717, 71074, 72186, 72187, 77142, 77143, 77924, 78354, 78355, 78356, 78357, 78358, 96140, 96574, 101295, 174594, 177740, 186521, 191345, 202785, 203532, 227255, 227256, 228929, 233345, 234703, 236424, 242724, 243073, 243949, 244482, 247013, 259345, 283359, 291554, 291786, 291787, 337132, 347745, 347746, 347752, 396279, 564087; only mandible: BMNHL 592.a (or 43.9.14.9), 36.11.6.32, USNM 243607, 293895; only skull: USNM 58695, 78360, 81901, 170740, 202786, 207198, 228524, 233348, 245442, 249883, 564086.
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Cardini, A., O’Higgins, P. Post-natal ontogeny of the mandible and ventral cranium in Marmota species (Rodentia, Sciuridae): allometry and phylogeny. Zoomorphology 124, 189–203 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-005-0008-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-005-0008-3