ArticlePloS one2015
Anatomical network analysis shows decoupling of modular lability and complexity in the evolution of the primate skull.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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14 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- Quantitative Genetic Analysis of Baboon Facial Variation Challenges a Classic Papionin Trait.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Complex and diverse patterns of neurocranial development in Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Homo.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A comprehensive anatomical network analysis of human brain topology.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Hominin fossils from Kromdraai and Drimolen informScience advances · 2023Article
- Anatomical comparison across heads, fore- and hindlimbs in mammals using network models.Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
- A node-based informed modularity strategy to identify organizational modules in anatomical networks.Biology open · 2020Article
- Evolutionary and ontogenetic changes of the anatomical organization and modularity in the skull of archosaurs.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Introducing Trait Networks to Elucidate the Fluidity of Organismal Evolution Using Palaeontological Data.Genome biology and evolution · 2019Article
- First anatomical network analysis of fore- and hindlimb musculoskeletal modularity in bonobos, common chimpanzees, and humans.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Primate modularity and evolution: first anatomical network analysis of primate head and neck musculoskeletal system.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Musculoskeletal networks reveal topological disparity in mammalian neck evolution.BMC evolutionary biology · 2017Article
- Comparison of musculoskeletal networks of the primate forelimb.Scientific reports · 2017Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
Modularity and complexity go hand in hand in the evolution of the skull of primates. Because analyses of these two parameters often use different approaches, we do not know yet how modularity evolves within, or as a consequence of, an also-evolving complex organization. Here we use a novel network theory-based approach (Anatomical Network Analysis) to assess how the organization of skull bones constrains the co-evolution of modularity and complexity among primates. We used the pattern of bone contacts modeled as networks to identify connectivity modules and quantify morphological complexity. We analyzed whether modularity and complexity evolved coordinately in the skull of primates. Specifically, we tested Herbert Simon's general theory of near-decomposability, which states that modularity promotes the evolution of complexity. We found that the skulls of extant primates divide into one conserved cranial module and up to three labile facial modules, whose composition varies among primates. Despite changes in modularity, statistical analyses reject a positive feedback between modularity and complexity. Our results suggest a decoupling of complexity and modularity that translates to varying levels of constraint on the morphological evolvability of the primate skull. This study has methodological and conceptual implications for grasping the constraints that underlie the developmental and functional integration of the skull of humans and other primates.
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