From Jumbo to Dumbo: Cranial Shape Changes in Elephants and Hippos During Phyletic Dwarfing

• Published in: Evolutionary biology Vol. 45; no. 3; pp. 303 - 317
• Main Authors: van der Geer, Alexandra A. E., Lyras, George A., Mitteroecker, Philipp, MacPhee, Ross D. E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adaptation; Allometry; Analysis; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Body mass; Body size; Developmental Biology; Ecology; Elephants; Endangered & extinct species; Evolutionary Biology; Extinction; Human Genetics; Life Sciences; Morphometry; Ontogeny; Proboscidea; Research Article; Skull; Species; Evolution; Insular dwarf species; Geometric morphometrics; Pedomorphism; Pleistocene

Members of the mammalian families Elephantidae and Hippopotamidae (extant and extinct elephants and hippos) include extinct dwarf species that display up to 98% decrease in body size compared to probable ancestral sources. In addition to differences in body mass, skulls of these species consistently...