ArticleEcology and evolution2021
3D genital shape complexity in female marine mammals.
Article in Ecology and evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Artificial vagina conformation and composition for semen collection.Reproduction & fertility · 2025Pooled it
- A suture in time: The ontogeny of cranial suture morphology in mammals.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Correlated evolution of elaborate intromission mechanics during copulation between the sexes in leaf beetles.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Rapid divergent evolution of internal female genitalia and the coevolution of male genital morphology revealed by micro-computed tomography.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- A landmark-free analysis of the pelvic girdle in Sulawesi ricefishes (Adrianichthyidae): How 2D and 3D geometric morphometrics can complement each other in the analysis of a complex structure.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Baculum shape complexity correlates to metrics of post-copulatory sexual selection in Musteloidea.Journal of morphology · 2023Article
- Female Genital Variation Far Exceeds that of Male Genitalia: A Review of Comparative Anatomy of Clitoris and the Female Lower Reproductive Tract in Theria.Integrative and comparative biology · 2022Article
- 3D genital shape complexity in female marine mammals.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Comparisons of 3D shapes have recently been applied to diverse anatomical structures using landmarking techniques. However, discerning evolutionary patterns can be challenging for structures lacking homologous landmarks. We used alpha shape analyses to quantify vaginal shape complexity in 40 marine mammal specimens including cetaceans, pinnipeds, and sirenians. We explored phylogenetic signal and the potential roles of natural and sexual selection on vaginal shape evolution. Complexity scores were consistent with qualitative observations. Cetaceans had a broad range of alpha complexities, while pinnipeds were comparatively simple and sirenians were complex. Intraspecific variation was found. Three-dimensional surface heat maps revealed that shape complexity was driven by invaginations and protrusions of the vaginal wall. Phylogenetic signal was weak and metrics of natural selection (relative neonate size) and sexual selection (relative testes size, sexual size dimorphism, and penis morphology) did not explain vaginal complexity patterns. Additional metrics, such as penile shape complexity, may yield interesting insights into marine mammal genital coevolution. We advocate for the use of alpha shapes to discern patterns of evolution that would otherwise not be possible in 3D anatomical structures lacking homologous landmarks.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.