Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Lagothrix
and
Ateles
are frugivorous, while
Alouatta
and
Brachyteles
are folivorous. The primitive diet for the clade's common ancestor is
believed to have been a frugivorous one (Rosenberger and Strier, 1989),
so that the similarity between
Ateles
and
Lagothrix
could be consid-
ered symplesiomorphic (a retained primitive state inherited from a
common ancestor). In contrast, folivory was probably developed in par-
allel in
Alouatta
and
Brachyteles
(Rosenberger and Strier, 1989). If
that is the case, why are these genera no more similar in their facial
shape? Cole et al. (2000) hypothesized that any similarities between
Alouatta
and
Brachyteles
that are due to a common diet are probably
obscured by the unusually derived facial form in
Alouatta
, which is
modified as the result of a hypertrophied hyolaryngeal apparatus
(Rosenberger and Strier, 1989).
7.4 Summary
This chapter has offered new extensions of basic EDMA procedures as
well as new algorithms for addressing complex biological problems.
The examples given in the chapter demonstrate the versatile nature of
the basic EDMA approach and underscore the essential importance of
invariance in adapting the method to new areas of morphometric
description and comparison. The applications demonstrated here are
simply examples, and we are confident that future applications will be
many and diverse.