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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2016

Bony labyrinth of Carnivora (Mammalia): the significance of phylogeny and the sensorial adaptation to aquatic environments

Résumé

The bony labyrinth is an osseous structure surrounding the inner ear, a primary sensorial organ involved in hearing, body perception in space, and balance in vertebrates. We investigated the influence of phylogenetic relationships and locomotor patterns on shape variation of the bony labyrinth in carnivoran mammals. We chose musteloids as a model group (skunks, red panda, coatis, raccoons, badgers, martens, otters, …) as it constitutes the most species-rich superfamily among Carnivora and it includes taxa with a wide array of locomotory styles (semi-fossorial, semi-aquatic, scansorial, arboreal, and generalized terrestrial forms). We reconstructed virtual bony labyrinths of 31 species based on X-ray microCT data of basicrania and we characterized their shape using 3D geometric morphometrics. PCA from shape data show distinct morphospaces between the four traditionally recognized families of musteloids (Mephitidae, Procyonidae, Ailuridae, Mustelidae). The phylogenetic variation of bony labyrinth shape in musteloids is associated with the size and curvature of the semicircular canals, angles between canals, presence or absence of a secondary common crus, degree of lateral compression of the vestibule, orientation of the cochlea relative to the semicircular canals, proportions of the cochlea, and degree of curvature of its turns. We also detected significant differences in the shape of the vestibular system between semi-aquatic and non-aquatic musteloids: otters and minks display an oval rather than circular anterior canal, sinuous rather than straight lateral canal, and acute rather than straight angle between the posterior and lateral semicircular canals compared to the remaining musteloid sample. Those modifications could be related to the sensorial adaptation of Carnivora for detecting head motion in aquatic environment and will be compared to the shape variation observed in Pinnipedia (seals, sea lions, walrus).
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Dates et versions

hal-03609349 , version 1 (15-03-2022)

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  • HAL Id : hal-03609349 , version 1

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Camille Grohé, Z Jack Tseng, Renaud Lebrun, Renaud Boistel, John J Flynn. Bony labyrinth of Carnivora (Mammalia): the significance of phylogeny and the sensorial adaptation to aquatic environments. 11th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Jul 2016, Washington DC, United States. ⟨hal-03609349⟩
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