Application of high-resolution landmark-free morphometrics to a mouse model of Down Syndrome reveals a tightly localised cranial phenotype

Characterising phenotypes often requires quantification of anatomical shapes. Quantitative shape comparison (morphometrics) traditionally uses anatomical landmarks and is therefore limited by the number of landmarks and operator accuracy when landmarks are located manually. Here we apply a landmark-free method to characterise the craniofacial skeletal phenotype of the Dp1Tyb mouse model of Down syndrome (DS), validating it against a landmark-based approach. We identify cranial dysmorphologies in Dp1Tyb mice, especially smaller size and brachycephaly (front-back shortening) homologous to the human phenotype. The landmark-free phenotyping was less labour-intensive and required less user training than the landmark-based method. It also enabled mapping of local differences as planar expansion or shrinkage. This higher resolution and local mapping pinpointed reductions in interior mid-snout structures and occipital bones in this DS model that were not as apparent using a traditional landmark-based method. This approach could make morphometrics widely-accessible beyond traditional niches in zoology and palaeontology, especially in characterising mutant phenotypes.