Data from: Dietary specialization drives adaptation, convergence, and integration across the cranial and appendicular skeleton in Waterfowl (Anseriformes)
Data files
May 19, 2026 version files 66.34 KB
-
Anseriformes_fem_Means_new.csv
13.34 KB
-
Anseriformes_means_new.csv
15.62 KB
-
Anseriformes_tar_Means_new.csv
14.97 KB
-
Anseriformes_tib_Means_new.csv
15.05 KB
-
Duck_supp_code.R
5.76 KB
-
README.md
1.61 KB
Abstract
Convergence provides strong evidence for adaptive evolution as it reflects shared adaptive responses to the same selection pressures. The waterfowl (order Anseriformes) are an ideal group in which to study convergent evolution as they have repeatedly evolved morphotypes putatively correlated with diet (i.e., dabbler, grazer, diver). Here, we construct the most robust evolutionary hypothesis to date for waterfowl and reveal widespread morphological convergence across the order. We quantified the shape of the skull and hindlimb elements (femur, tibiotarsus, and tarsometatarsus) of 118 species of extant waterfowl using geometric morphometrics. Multivariate generalized evolutionary models provide strong support for a relationship between dietary ecology and skull shape, and evidence for convergent evolution across lineages that share dietary niches. Foraging behavior better explained the evolution of hindlimb shape, but diet still contributed significantly. We also find preliminary evidence for integration across all three measured hindlimb elements with each other and with the skull. We demonstrate that dietary ecology drives morphological convergence within waterfowl, that this convergent evolution involves multiple integrated skeletal structures, and that morphological changes are associated with shifts in the rate of phenotypic evolution.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffc1k
Description of the data and file structure
Data and R script used in morphometric analyses for 'Dietary specialization drives adaptation, convergence, and integration across the cranial and appendicular skeleton in Waterfowl (Anseriformes)'.
Files and variables
Variables for all datasets
- Species: Species name (Label)
- Diet: Assigned Diet category for each species; Fish, Herbivore, Dive_grasp, Mixed, Straining
- Foraging: Assigned Foraging Behavior for each species; Diving, Surface, Terrestrial, Wading
- Category: Assigned Foraging Ecology for each species; Fish/Diving, Herbivore/Surface, Herbivore/Terrestrial, Herbivore/Wading, Dive_grasp/Diving, Mixed/Diving, Mixed/Surface, Mixed/Wading, Straining/Surface
- Csize: Centroid size as determined by geomorph function gpagen
- PC1-5 : PC axes scores for each species from the PCA analyses
Notes
- Csize and PC scores are unitless
- Dive_grasp and Fish are the equivalent of Macroinvertivore and Piscivore in the manuscript text
File: Anseriformes_fem_Means_new.csv
Description: Femur Data
File: Anseriformes_means_new.csv
Description: Skull Data
File: Anseriformes_tar_Means_new.csv
Description: Tarsometatarsus data
File: Anseriformes_tib_Means_new.csv
Description: Tibiotarsus data
File: Duck_supp_code.R
Description: R script
