Rapid evolution of the primate larynx?
Authors
Smaers, Jeroen B
Sato, Asha
Handschuh, Stephan
Dengg, Sabine
Kitchener, Andrew C
Publication Date
2020-08Journal Title
PLoS Biol
ISSN
1544-9173
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Volume
18
Issue
8
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Bowling, D. L., Dunn, J. C., Smaers, J. B., Garcia, M., Sato, A., Hantke, G., Handschuh, S., et al. (2020). Rapid evolution of the primate larynx?. PLoS Biol, 18 (8) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000764
Abstract
Tissue vibrations in the larynx produce most sounds that comprise vocal communication in mammals. Larynx morphology is thus predicted to be a key target for selection, particularly in species with highly developed vocal communication systems. Here, we present a novel database of digitally modeled scanned larynges from 55 different mammalian species, representing a wide range of body sizes in the primate and carnivoran orders. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we demonstrate that the primate larynx has evolved more rapidly than the carnivoran larynx, resulting in a pattern of larger size and increased deviation from expected allometry with body size. These results imply fundamental differences between primates and carnivorans in the balance of selective forces that constrain larynx size and highlight an evolutionary flexibility in primates that may help explain why we have developed complex and diverse uses of the vocal organ for communication.
Keywords
Research Article, Biology and life sciences, Medicine and health sciences, Computer and information sciences, Social sciences
Sponsorship
Austrian Science Fund (#W1262-B29)
The Royal Society (RSG\R1\180340)
Austrian Science Fund (AT) (#M1773-B24)
Identifiers
pbiology-d-20-00377
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000764
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/309017
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Licence URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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