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Multivariate Craniodental Allometry of Tarsiers

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Abstract

Evolutionary allometry describes size and shape differences across taxa matched for developmental stage (e.g., adulthood). Allometric studies can identify subtle differences among species, and therefore help researchers interested in small-bodied, cryptic species such as tarsiers. Recent taxonomic revision has emphasized size differences among three possible tarsier genera inhabiting different island regions: Sulawesi (genus: Tarsius), Borneo (genus: Cephalopachus), and the Philippines (genus: Carlito). We examined seven craniodental measures of 102 museum specimens of adult tarsiers representing these three regions. We found that the allometric patterns within groups do not predict the observable differences among groups. Crania of the largest-bodied genus, Cephalopachus, are characterized by relatively short skulls and small orbits, with wider palates and molars than predicted by allometric increase from the smaller-bodied Tarsius. Overall, we found tarsier skulls stay the same shape as they increase in size. This may reflect shared developmental and biomechanical adaptations across tarsier groups filling an extreme leaping, faunivorous niche with hypertrophied orbits and subtle dietary differences in prey selection. These shared adaptations of tarsiers may severely limit the range of body sizes in tarsiers and impose further constraints on cranial shape. Despite their deep divergence times in the Miocene, living tarsier groups are united by a common craniodental form across a limited size range. Adaptations to extreme niches might result in a hyperconservatism of the cranium. Future primate allometric studies should explore cranial variation in other taxa to determine how adaptations to specific niches affect the size and shape of the cranium.

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Acknowledgments

We thank R. Thorington and L. Gordon (National Museum of Natural History) for allowing us to access the collections. We also want to thank Dr. Yao for providing the photograph of the tarsier skulls, as well as E. Westig and N. Duncan (American Museum of Natural History) for granting permission for us to use this photograph. Thank you Dr. M. Shekelle for your advice and feedback, as well as your willingness to share your data. We thank the editor of International Journal of Primatology, as well as several anonymous reviewers who provided excellent suggestions for the improvement of this article. Finally, this research would not have been accomplished if it were not for the late Dr. C. Groves, who provided not only his data but also his expertise on the subject.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Rachel A. Munds & Gregory E. Blomquist

  2. Nocturnal Primate Research Group, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK

    Rachel A. Munds

  3. Department of Anatomy, Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA, 50312, USA

    Rachel H. Dunn

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  1. Rachel A. Munds
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Munds, R.A., Dunn, R.H. & Blomquist, G.E. Multivariate Craniodental Allometry of Tarsiers. Int J Primatol 39, 252–268 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-018-0034-x

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