Osteological postcranial traits in hylid anurans indicate a morphological continuum between swimming and jumping locomotor modes

M. SOLIZ; M.J. TULLI; ABDALA, V

JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2017 vol. 278 p. 403 - 417

0362-2525

Anurans exhibit a particularly wide range of locomotor modes that result in wide variations in their skeletal structure. This article investigates the possible correlation between morphological aspects of the hylid postcranial skeleton and their different locomotor modes and habitat use. To do so, we analyzed 18 morphometric postcranial variables in 19 different anuran species representativeof a variety of locomotor modes (jumper, hopper, walker, and swimmer) and habitat uses (arboreal,bush, terrestrial, and aquatic). Our results show that the evolution of the postcranial hylid skeleton cannot be explained by one single model, as for example, the girdles suggest modular evolutionwhile the vertebral column suggests other evolutionary modules. In conjunction with data from several other studies, we were able to show a relationship between hylid morphology and habitat use; offering further evidence that the jumper/swimmer and walker/hopper locomotor modes exhibit quite similar morphological architecture. This allowed us to infer that new locomotormodalities are, in fact, generated along a morphological continuum.