ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2014
Studying morphological integration and modularity at multiple levels: concepts and analysis.
Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 106 papers.
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Who cites it
106 citing papers in PubMed.
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- Cranial Modularity and Integration in Modern Humans: Evidence for Regional Variability and Evolutionary Flexibility.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Article
- Brawn before bite in endemic Asian eutherian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction.eLife · 2026Article
- Phenotypic integration and the organization of discrete facial variation.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Evolutionary Rate Incongruences in Squamates Reveal Contrasting Patterns of Evolutionary Novelties and Innovation.Systematic biology · 2026Article
- Morphological Variation and Integration of the Ethmoidal and Prechiasmatic Regions in Sheep.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Intraspecific Variation in Life Cycle Impacts the Morphology of Alpine Newts.Integrative and comparative biology · 2026Article
- Is the human chin a spandrel? Insights from an evolutionary analysis of ape craniomandibular form.PloS one · 2026Article
- Topological and variational modularity: A case study using the pectoral girdle across the Chrosomus eos-neogaeus hybridization complex.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- Mandibular Shape Variation, Allometry and Modularity in Adult Mesocephalic Dogs (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Building a predator: macroevolutionary patterns in the skull of abelisaurid dinosaurs.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Optic tectum size correlates positively with eye size across, but not within, populations of Asiatic toads along altitudinal gradients.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Developmental and Functional Interactions Structure Patterns of Variational Modularity in the Lunar Wrasse Skull.Integrative and comparative biology · 2025Article
- Developmental lines of least resistance predict standing genetic covariation but do not constrain plasticity or rapid evolution.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Macroevolutionary integration underlies limb modularity in the origin of avian flight.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Transecting and contrasting the feeding designs of the astigmatan community from bird nests.Experimental & applied acarology · 2025Article
- Craniofacial integration and modularity in untreated cleft lip and palate.Clinical oral investigations · 2025Article
- Sexual dimorphism and morphological integration in the orchid bee brain.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Morphofunctional characteristics of flight-related traits in deltamethrin-resistant and susceptible Triatoma infestans (Klug, 1834) of the Argentinean Chaco.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Forelimb reduction and digit loss were evolutionarily decoupled in oviraptorosaurian theropod dinosaurs.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
46 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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1 author.
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Abstract
Although most studies on integration and modularity have focused on variation among individuals within populations or species, this is not the only level of variation for which integration and modularity exist. Multiple levels of biological variation originate from distinct sources: genetic variation, phenotypic plasticity resulting from environmental heterogeneity, fluctuating asymmetry from random developmental variation and, at the interpopulation or interspecific levels, evolutionary change. The processes that produce variation at all these levels can impart integration or modularity on the covariance structure among morphological traits. In turn, studies of the patterns of integration and modularity can inform about the underlying processes. In particular, the methods of geometric morphometrics offer many advantages for such studies because they can characterize the patterns of morphological variation in great detail and maintain the anatomical context of the structures under study. This paper reviews biological concepts and analytical methods for characterizing patterns of variation and for comparing across levels. Because research comparing patterns across level has only just begun, there are relatively few results, generalizations are difficult and many biological and statistical questions remain unanswered. Nevertheless, it is clear that research using this approach can take advantage of an abundance of new possibilities that are so far largely unexplored.
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