Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

0 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Correlated evolution of sternal keel length and ilium length in birds.

ABSTRACT: The interplay between the pectoral module (the pectoral girdle and limbs) and the pelvic module (the pelvic girdle and limbs) plays a key role in shaping avian evolution, but prior empirical studies on trait covariation between the two modules are limited. Here we empirically test whether (size-corrected) sternal keel length and ilium length are correlated during avian evolution using phylogenetic comparative methods. Our analyses on extant birds and Mesozoic birds both recover a significantly positive correlation. The results provide new evidence regarding the integration between the pelvic and pectoral modules. The correlated evolution of sternal keel length and ilium length may serve as a mechanism to cope with the effect on performance caused by a tradeoff in muscle mass between the pectoral and pelvic modules, via changing moment arms of muscles that function in flight and in terrestrial locomotion.

SUBMITTER: Zhao T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5533152 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Publications

Correlated evolution of sternal keel length and ilium length in birds.

Zhao Tao T Liu Di D Li Zhiheng Z

PeerJ 20170726

The interplay between the pectoral module (the pectoral girdle and limbs) and the pelvic module (the pelvic girdle and limbs) plays a key role in shaping avian evolution, but prior empirical studies on trait covariation between the two modules are limited. Here we empirically test whether (size-corrected) sternal keel length and ilium length are correlated during avian evolution using phylogenetic comparative methods. Our analyses on extant birds and Mesozoic birds both recover a significantly p ...[more]

PMID: 28761797

Similar Datasets

Project description:Despite a diversity of about 10 000 extant species, the sophisticated avian 'body plan' has not much changed once it was achieved around 160 Ma after the origin of powered flight. All birds are bipedal having wings, a rigid trunk, a short and ossified tail, a three-segmented leg and digitigrade feet. The avian neck, however, has always been regarded as a classic example of high variability ranging from short necks in songbirds to extremely long, serpentine necks in herons. Yet, the wide array of small to very large species makes it difficult to evaluate the actual neck length. Here, we investigate the evolution of the vertebral formulae in the neck of birds and the scaling relationships between skeletal dimensions and body size. Cervical count in birds is strongly related to phylogeny, with only some specialists having an exceptional number of vertebrae in the neck. In contrast with mammals, the length of the cervical vertebral column increases as body size increases and, thus, body size does not constrain neck length in birds. Indeed, neck length scales isometrically with total leg length suggesting a correlated evolution between both modules. The strong integration between the cervical and pelvic module in birds is in contrast with the decoupling of the fore- and hindlimb module and may be the result of the loss of a functionally versatile forelimb due to the evolution of powered flight.

| S-EPMC6549945 | biostudies-literature

Evolution and functional significance of derived sternal ossification patterns in ornithothoracine birds.

Project description:The midline pattern of sternal ossification characteristic of the Cretaceous enantiornithine birds is unique among the Ornithodira, the group containing birds, nonavian dinosaurs and pterosaurs. This has been suggested to indicate that Enantiornithes is not the sister group of Ornithuromorpha, the clade that includes living birds and their close relatives, which would imply rampant convergence in many nonsternal features between enantiornithines and ornithuromorphs. However, detailed comparisons reveal greater similarity between neornithine (i.e. crown group bird) and enantiornithine modes of sternal ossification than previously recognized. Furthermore, a new subadult enantiornithine specimen demonstrates that sternal ossification followed a more typically ornithodiran pattern in basal members of the clade. This new specimen, referable to the Pengornithidae, indicates that the unique ossification pattern observed in other juvenile enantiornithines is derived within Enantiornithes. A similar but clearly distinct pattern appears to have evolved in parallel in the ornithuromorph lineage. The atypical mode of sternal ossification in some derived enantiornithines should be regarded as an autapomorphic condition rather than an indication that enantiornithines are not close relatives of ornithuromorphs. Based on what is known about molecular mechanisms for morphogenesis and the possible selective advantages, the parallel shifts to midline ossification that took place in derived enantiornithines and living neognathous birds appear to have been related to the development of a large ventral keel, which is only present in ornithuromorphs and enantiornithines. Midline ossification can serve to medially reinforce the sternum at a relatively early ontogenetic stage, which would have been especially beneficial during the protracted development of the superprecocial Cretaceous enantiornithines.

| S-EPMC5548695 | biostudies-literature

Evolution of correlated complexity in the radically different courtship signals of birds-of-paradise.

Project description:Ornaments used in courtship often vary wildly among species, reflecting the evolutionary interplay between mate preference functions and the constraints imposed by natural selection. Consequently, understanding the evolutionary dynamics responsible for ornament diversification has been a longstanding challenge in evolutionary biology. However, comparing radically different ornaments across species, as well as different classes of ornaments within species, is a profound challenge to understanding diversification of sexual signals. Using novel methods and a unique natural history dataset, we explore evolutionary patterns of ornament evolution in a group-the birds-of-paradise-exhibiting dramatic phenotypic diversification widely assumed to be driven by sexual selection. Rather than the tradeoff between ornament types originally envisioned by Darwin and Wallace, we found positive correlations among cross-modal (visual/acoustic) signals indicating functional integration of ornamental traits into a composite unit-the "courtship phenotype." Furthermore, given the broad theoretical and empirical support for the idea that systemic robustness-functional overlap and interdependency-promotes evolutionary innovation, we posit that birds-of-paradise have radiated extensively through ornamental phenotype space as a consequence of the robustness in the courtship phenotype that we document at a phylogenetic scale. We suggest that the degree of robustness in courtship phenotypes among taxa can provide new insights into the relative influence of sexual and natural selection on phenotypic radiations.

| S-EPMC6245505 | biostudies-literature

Sternal cables are not superior to traditional sternal wiring for preventing deep sternal wound infection.

Project description:ObjectivesDeep sternal wound infection is a devastating complication of cardiac surgery. In the current era of increasing patient comorbidity, newer techniques must be evaluated in attempts to reduce the rates of deep sternal wound infection.MethodsA randomized controlled trial comparing sternal closure with traditional sternal wires in figure-8 formation with the Pioneer cabling system® from Medigroup after adult cardiac surgery was performed.ResultsA total of 273 patients were enrolled with 137 and 135 patients randomized to sternal wires and cables group, respectively. Baseline characteristics between the two groups were well balanced. Deep sternal wound infection occurred in 0.7% of patients in the wires group and 3.7% of patients in the cables group (absolute risk difference = -3.0%, 95% confidence interval: -7.7 to 0.9%; P = 0.12). Patients in the cables group were extubated slightly earlier than those in the sternal wires group postoperatively (9.7 vs 12.8 h; P = 0.03). There was, however, no significant difference in hospital and follow-up pain scores or analgesia requirements.ConclusionsThe Pioneer sternal cabling system appears to facilitate early extubation after adult cardiac surgery, but it does not reduce the rate of deep sternal infectionAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ANZCTR-ACTRN12615000973516.

| S-EPMC4892157 | biostudies-literature

Epigenetic inheritance of telomere length in wild birds.

Project description:Telomere length (TL) predicts health and survival across taxa. Variation in TL between individuals is thought to be largely of genetic origin, but telomere inheritance is unusual, because zygotes already express a TL phenotype, the TL of the parental gametes. Offspring TL changes with paternal age in many species including humans, presumably through age-related TL changes in sperm, suggesting an epigenetic inheritance mechanism. However, present evidence is based on cross-sectional analyses, and age at reproduction is confounded with between-father variation in TL. Furthermore, the quantitative importance of epigenetic TL inheritance is unknown. Using longitudinal data of free-living jackdaws Corvus monedula, we show that erythrocyte TL of subsequent offspring decreases with parental age within individual fathers, but not mothers. By cross-fostering eggs, we confirmed the paternal age effect to be independent of paternal age dependent care. Epigenetic inheritance accounted for a minimum of 34% of the variance in offspring TL that was explained by paternal TL. This is a minimum estimate, because it ignores the epigenetic component in paternal TL variation and sperm TL heterogeneity within ejaculates. Our results indicate an important epigenetic component in the heritability of TL with potential consequences for offspring fitness prospects.

| S-EPMC6375570 | biostudies-literature

COMPLEX EVOLUTION OF BILE SALTS IN BIRDS.

Project description:Bile salts are the major end-metabolites of cholesterol and are important in lipid digestion and shaping of the gut microflora. There have been limited studies of bile-salt variation in birds. The purpose of our study was to determine bile-salt variation among birds and relate this variation to current avian phylogenies and hypotheses on the evolution of bile salt pathways. We determined the biliary bile-salt composition of 405 phylogenetically diverse bird species, including 7 paleognath species. Bile salt profiles were generally stable within bird families. Complex bile-salt profiles were more common in omnivores and herbivores than in carnivores. The structural variation of bile salts in birds is extensive and comparable to that seen in surveys of bile salts in reptiles and mammals. Birds produce many of the bile salts found throughout nonavian vertebrates and some previously uncharacterized bile salts. One difference between birds and other vertebrates is extensive hydroxylation of carbon-16 of bile salts in bird species. Comparison of our data set of bird bile salts with that of other vertebrates, especially reptiles, allowed us to infer evolutionary changes in the bile salt synthetic pathway.

| S-EPMC2990222 | biostudies-literature

The evolution of parental cooperation in birds.

Project description:Parental care is one of the most variable social behaviors and it is an excellent model system to understand cooperation between unrelated individuals. Three major hypotheses have been proposed to explain the extent of parental cooperation: sexual selection, social environment, and environmental harshness. Using the most comprehensive dataset on parental care that includes 659 bird species from 113 families covering both uniparental and biparental taxa, we show that the degree of parental cooperation is associated with both sexual selection and social environment. Consistent with recent theoretical models parental cooperation decreases with the intensity of sexual selection and with skewed adult sex ratios. These effects are additive and robust to the influence of life-history variables. However, parental cooperation is unrelated to environmental factors (measured at the scale of whole species ranges) as indicated by a lack of consistent relationship with ambient temperature, rainfall or their fluctuations within and between years. These results highlight the significance of social effects for parental cooperation and suggest that several parental strategies may coexist in a given set of ambient environment.

| S-EPMC4640770 | biostudies-literature

Therapy options in deep sternal wound infection: Sternal plating versus muscle flap.

Project description:BackgroundManagement of deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) in cardiac surgical patients still remains challenging. A variety of treatment strategies has been described. Aim of this cohort study was to analyse two different treatment strategies for DSWI: titanium sternal plating system (TSFS) and muscle flap coverage (MFC).MethodsBetween January 2007 and December 2011, from 3122 patients undergoing cardiac surgery 42 were identified with DSWI and treated with one of the above mentioned strategies. In-hospital data were collected, follow-up performed by telephone and assessment of Quality of Life (QoL) using the SF-12 Health Survey Questionnaire.Results20 patients with deep sternal wound infection were stabilized with TSFS and 22 patients treated with MFC. Preoperative demographics and risk factors did not reveal any significant differences. Patients treated with TSFS had a significantly shorter operation time (p<0.05) and shorter hospitalization (p<0.05). A tendency towards lower mortality rate (p = n.s.) and less re-interventions were also noted (plating 0.6 vs. flap 1.17 per patient, n.s.). Quality of Life in the TSFS group for the physical-summary-score was significantly elevated compared to the MFC group (p<0.05). Relating to chest stability and cosmetic result the treatment with TSFS showed superior results, but the usage of MFC gave the patients more freedom in breathing and less chest pain.ConclusionOur results demonstrate that the use of TSFS is a feasible and safe alternative in DSWI. However, MFC remains an absolutely essential option for complicated DSWI since the amount of perfused tissue can be the key for infection control.

| S-EPMC5493354 | biostudies-literature

Convergence and divergence in the evolution of aquatic birds.

Project description:Aquatic birds exceed other terrestrial vertebrates in the diversity of their adaptations to aquatic niches. For many species this has created difficulty in understanding their evolutionary origin and, in particular, for the flamingos, hamerkop, shoebill and pelecaniforms. Here, new evidence from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences and DNA-DNA hybridization data indicates extensive morphological convergence and divergence in aquatic birds. Among the unexpected findings is a grouping of flamingos and grebes, species which otherwise show no resemblance. These results suggest that the traditional characters used to unite certain aquatic groups, such as totipalmate feet, foot-propelled diving and long legs, evolved more than once and that organismal change in aquatic birds has proceeded at a faster pace than previously recognized.

| S-EPMC1088747 | biostudies-other

Acyl chain length of phosphatidylserine is correlated with plant lifespan.

Project description:Plant lifespan is affected by factors with genetic and environmental bases. The laws governing these two factors and how they affect plant lifespan are unclear. Here we show that the acyl chain length (ACL) of phosphatidylserine (PS) is correlated with plant lifespan. Among the detected eight head-group classes of membrane lipids with lipidomics based on triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry, the ACL of PS showed high diversity, in contrast to the ACLs of the other seven classes, which were highly conserved over all stages of development in all plant species and organs and under all conditions that we studied. Further investigation found that acyl chains of PS lengthened during development, senescence, and under environmental stresses and that increasing length was accelerated by promoted- senescence. The acyl chains of PS were limited to a certain carbon number and ceased to increase in length when plants were close to death. These findings suggest that the ACL of PS can count plant lifespan and could be a molecular scale ruler for measuring plant development and senescence.

| S-EPMC4110022 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

Tweets

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data