Ontogeny and Phylogeny of Catarrhine Crania: An Analysis of the Evolution of Ontogenetic Shape Change Trajectories Using Geometric Morphometrics

摘要

While there have been numerous previous investigations into catarrhine cranial ontogeny, these studies have often led to conflicting results, possibly due to the use of different methodologies. Furthermore, comparing the trajectories of many taxa simultaneously can be cumbersome, as this is often accomplished by examining large matrices of pairwise angles among them. Additionally, because relatively complete ontogenetic sequences of fossil materials are scarce to non-existent, most analyses of ontogenetic trajectories are limited to extant taxa, making it difficult to determine how trajectories have changed over time. Finally, there are several long-standing hypotheses about the role of size in the evolution of catarrhine cranial morphology that have yet to be tested using the sophisticated techniques of shape analysis that are currently available. This dissertation addresses these issues by: 1) examining how the use of different methodologies influences the production of ontogenetic trajectories, 2) developing new methods for the analysis of extant and ancestral ontogenetic trajectories, and 3) using this information in conjunction with a comparative approach to more fully understand the role of size in the cranial evolution of catarrhines.