Shape-shift: Semicircular canal morphology responds to selective breeding for increased locomotor activity

Evolution ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 3184-3198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Schutz ◽  
Heather A. Jamniczky ◽  
Benedikt Hallgrímsson ◽  
Theodore Garland
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Selective Breeding ◽  
Canal Morphology

scholarly journals Changes in semicircular canal morphology in response to selective breeding for high voluntary wheel running

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Schutz ◽  
Heather A. Jamniczky ◽  
Benedikt Hallgrímsson ◽  
Theodore Garland
Keyword(s):  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Selective Breeding ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Voluntary Wheel Running ◽  
Canal Morphology ◽  
Voluntary Wheel

scholarly journals Semicircular canals in Anolis lizards: ecomorphological convergence and ecomorph affinities of fossil species

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake V. Dickson ◽  
Emma Sherratt ◽  
Jonathan B. Losos ◽  
Stephanie E. Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Semicircular Canals ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Modern Species ◽  
Behavioural Characteristics ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Significant Covariates ◽  
Canal Morphology

AbstractAnolis lizards are a model system for the study of adaptive radiation and convergent evolution. Greater Antillean anoles have repeatedly evolved six similar forms or ecomorphs: crown-giant, grass-bush, twig, trunk, trunk-crown, and trunk-ground. Members of each ecomorph category possess a specific set of morphological, ecological and behavioural characteristics which have been acquired convergently. Here we test whether the semicircular canal system – the organ of balance – is also convergent among ecomorphs, reflecting the shared sensory requirements of their ecological niches. As semicircular canal shape has been shown to reflect different locomotor strategies, we hypothesised that each Anolis ecomorph would have a unique canal morphology. Using 3D semilandmarks and geometric morphometrics, semicircular canal shape was characterised in 41 Anolis species from the Greater Antilles and the relationship between canal shape and ecomorph grouping, phylogenetic history, size, and perch characteristics was assessed. Further, canal morphology of modern species was used to predict the ecomorph affinity of five fossil anoles from the Miocene of the Dominican Republic. Our study recovered ecomorph as the single-most important covariate of canal morphology in modern taxa; although phylogenetic history and size also showed a small, yet significant correlation with shape. Surprisingly, perch characteristics were not found to be significant covariates of canal shape, even though they are important habitat variables. Using posterior probabilities, we found that the fossil anoles have different semicircular canals shapes to modern ecomorph groupings implying extinct anoles may have been interacting with their Miocene environment in different ways to modern Anolis species.

scholarly journals Upper third molar internal structural organization and semicircular canal morphology in Plio-Pleistocene South African cercopithecoids

2016 ◽  
Vol 95 ◽  
pp. 104-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie Beaudet ◽  
Jean Dumoncel ◽  
John Francis Thackeray ◽  
Laurent Bruxelles ◽  
Benjamin Duployer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Structural Organization ◽  
Third Molar ◽  
Upper Third ◽  
Canal Morphology

Rats selectively-bred for low and high voluntary running: co-selected traits and the effects of voluntary running on the dentate gyrus transcriptome

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jacob Daniel Brown
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Dentate Gyrus ◽  
Selective Breeding ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Voluntary Running ◽  
The University ◽  
Physical Activity Motivation

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The Booth lab at the University of Missouri has selectively-bred Wistar rats for low (LVR) and high (HVR) voluntary running behavior as a model for examining the genetic and physiological origins of physical activity motivation. The major advantage of selective breeding over non-natural methods of genetic engineering is the perpetuation of naturally-existing, polygenic milieus that dictate complex behaviors or phenotypes (e.g. motivation to be physically active, etiology of obesity). Since most genes and physiological systems are pleiotropic and function as modular networks, a "by-product" of selective breeding is the co-selection of traits sharing some common genetic origins with the selected trait. Overall, the major emphasis of my dissertation was two-fold: (1) the elucidation of behavioral traits co-selected with low and high physical activity motivational behavior and (2) the effect of voluntary running in a mildly stressful environment on the dentate gyrus transcriptome of rats selectively bred for low voluntary running. Emphasis 1 (Chapters 2 and 3) was approached by measuring the performance of LVR and HVR rats in behavioral tests classically designed to measure non-wheel running locomotor activity behavior (i.e. open field test), sensitivity to drugs of abuse (i.e. cocaine-induced locomotor activity), anxiety-like behavior (i.e. elevated plus maze), depressive-like behavior (i.e. forced swim test), and nociception (i.e. thermal and mechanical stimulus). Emphasis 2 was approached by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to map the transcriptome of the dentate gyrus after exposing sedentary and wheel running LVR and WT rats to 5 weeks of chronic mild stress (CMS). The results from Chapters 2 and 3 demonstrate that LVR and HVR rats have co-selected other behaviors, which suggest that they may be a valuable model for an array of research disciplines including: (1) the investigation of the genetic basis for physical activity motivation, (2) hyperactivity, (3) sensitivity to drugs of abuse (e.g. addiction), (4) emotional/stress disorders (e.g. anxiety and depression), and (5) nociception as well as the interactions between these complex phenotypes. The results from Chapter 4 provide transcriptomic evidence that low amounts of voluntary running performed by female LVR rats in a CMS environment are sufficient for eliciting robust changes in dentate gyrus transcriptome that included gene expression signatures associated with elevated synaptic plasticity, improved memory function, and increased blood vessel development.

3D models related to the publication: Upper third molar internal structural organization and semicircular canal morphology in Plio-Pleistocene South African cercopithecoids.

MorphoMuseuM ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. e86
Author(s):  
Amélie Beaudet ◽  
Guillaume Fleury ◽  
Emmanuel Gilissen ◽  
Jean Dumoncel ◽  
John Francis Thackeray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Structural Organization ◽  
Third Molar ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Upper Third ◽  
Canal Morphology

scholarly journals Selective breeding as a tool to probe skeletal response to high voluntary locomotor activity in mice

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Middleton ◽  
Scott A. Kelly ◽  
Theodore Garland
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Selective Breeding
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