Skull morphology of bottlenose dolphins worldwide and patterns of adaptation between coastal and offshore environments
Resource type
Journal article
Date published
November 6, 2023
Abstract
The morphological differentiation between coastal and offshore ecotypes of bottlenose dolphins (genus ) has been researched since the 1960s, particularly in (Montagu, 1821), although most morphological studies have focused on localized populations. Therefore, it is unclear how patterns observed in these individual populations integrate within the global morphological variation. Here we carry out a meta†analysis of global morphological variation between coastal and offshore ecotypes from 532 museum specimens, using both linear measurements (LM; 282 specimens), and shape data using geometric morphometrics (GM; 290 specimens). Together these analyses show consistent differentiation in skull morphology between coastal and offshore ecotypes, and provide a detailed description of variation patterns within each ecotype. These patterns show high individual morphological variation in the coastal ecotype between locations, while the offshore ecotype appears morphologically more uniform across the areas sampled. Overall, most skull shape variation can be described by features noticeable dorsally in the structures of the rostrum, whereas more limited change was found in ventral traits. Our results suggest that individual coastal populations may vary according to local environmental conditions, while those corresponding to the offshore ecotype appear to share similar morphological characteristics that might increase fitness in offshore habitats.
Funder
| Funder name | Awards |
Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej | PPN/ULM/2019/1/00162 |
Agencia Estatal de Investigacià³n | |
European Social Fund | RYC2019†026688†I |
Journal title
Journal of Zoology
Publisher
Wiley
ISSN
0952-8369
eISSN
1469-7998
Date accepted
October 2, 2023
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright