The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications

Insular mammal faunas have been the focus of numerous studies in evolutionary biology, specifically regarding the patterns of dwarfism and gigantism. Previous work has shown either increase or decrease in relative brain size in various clades, including elephants, hippos, lagomorphs, bovids, and mul...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Vincent, Flavien, Souron, Antoine|||0000-0001-7384-4974, Casanovas i Vilar, Isaac|||0000-0001-7092-9622, Gamarra González, Jesús|||0000-0002-9474-2317, Bertrand, Ornella C.|||0000-0003-3461-3908
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:324088
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/324088
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s10914-025-09785-0
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Brain endocast
Canary islands
Gigantism
Insular mammals
Island effect
Pleistocene
id ES_ff17b772f4d4cab4e5befddb47f99b1e
oai_identifier_str oai:ddd.uab.cat:324088
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implicationsVincent, FlavienSouron, Antoine|||0000-0001-7384-4974Casanovas i Vilar, Isaac|||0000-0001-7092-9622Gamarra González, Jesús|||0000-0002-9474-2317Bertrand, Ornella C.|||0000-0003-3461-3908Brain endocastCanary islandsGigantismInsular mammalsIsland effectPleistoceneInsular mammal faunas have been the focus of numerous studies in evolutionary biology, specifically regarding the patterns of dwarfism and gigantism. Previous work has shown either increase or decrease in relative brain size in various clades, including elephants, hippos, lagomorphs, bovids, and multituberculates. Decrease in specific senses such as audition and vision were also observed. In this study, we describe the virtual brain endocasts of the giant rats of the Canary Islands, Canariomys bravoi and Canariomys tamarani, and make morphological and quantitative comparisons with 10 extant mainland and insular Murinae. We measured endocranial volumes and the relative sizes of brain regions, including the olfactory bulb and petrosal lobule volumes and the neocortical and paleocortex surface areas. Our results show that intraspecific variation was higher in Ca. bravoi compared to its closest extant relative Arvicanthis niloticus, which supports the idea that phenotypic variability is more prevalent on islands than on the continent. Canariomys tamarani could represent an intermediate form between Arvicanthis and Ca. bravoi, as previously hypothesized. The midbrain exposure in Ca. bravoi is likely a derived feature due to the reduction in the neocortex. The relatively small size of the olfactory bulbs in Canariomys might be related to decreased predation risk. The relatively smaller petrosal lobules in Ca. tamarani and insular extant rodents could have resulted from a shift to slower locomotion compared to their mainland relatives. Overall, we show that, as in the insular lagomorph Nuralagus rex, decrease in various senses has also occurred in rodents living on islands. 22025-01-0120252025-01-01Articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://ddd.uab.cat/record/324088https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s10914-025-09785-0reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UABinstname:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaInglésengGeneralitat de Catalunya https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 2021/BP-00042Agencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 PID2020-117289GB-I00Agencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 RYC2023-042630-IGeneralitat de Catalunya https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 2021/SGR-00620open accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ddd.uab.cat:3240882026-06-06T12:50:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications
title The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications
spellingShingle The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications
Vincent, Flavien
Brain endocast
Canary islands
Gigantism
Insular mammals
Island effect
Pleistocene
title_short The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications
title_full The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications
title_fullStr The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications
title_full_unstemmed The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications
title_sort The brain endocast of the Canary Islands giant rats (Canariomys, Muridae, Rodentia): paleobiological and evolutionary implications
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Vincent, Flavien
Souron, Antoine|||0000-0001-7384-4974
Casanovas i Vilar, Isaac|||0000-0001-7092-9622
Gamarra González, Jesús|||0000-0002-9474-2317
Bertrand, Ornella C.|||0000-0003-3461-3908
author Vincent, Flavien
author_facet Vincent, Flavien
Souron, Antoine|||0000-0001-7384-4974
Casanovas i Vilar, Isaac|||0000-0001-7092-9622
Gamarra González, Jesús|||0000-0002-9474-2317
Bertrand, Ornella C.|||0000-0003-3461-3908
author_role author
author2 Souron, Antoine|||0000-0001-7384-4974
Casanovas i Vilar, Isaac|||0000-0001-7092-9622
Gamarra González, Jesús|||0000-0002-9474-2317
Bertrand, Ornella C.|||0000-0003-3461-3908
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Brain endocast
Canary islands
Gigantism
Insular mammals
Island effect
Pleistocene
topic Brain endocast
Canary islands
Gigantism
Insular mammals
Island effect
Pleistocene
description Insular mammal faunas have been the focus of numerous studies in evolutionary biology, specifically regarding the patterns of dwarfism and gigantism. Previous work has shown either increase or decrease in relative brain size in various clades, including elephants, hippos, lagomorphs, bovids, and multituberculates. Decrease in specific senses such as audition and vision were also observed. In this study, we describe the virtual brain endocasts of the giant rats of the Canary Islands, Canariomys bravoi and Canariomys tamarani, and make morphological and quantitative comparisons with 10 extant mainland and insular Murinae. We measured endocranial volumes and the relative sizes of brain regions, including the olfactory bulb and petrosal lobule volumes and the neocortical and paleocortex surface areas. Our results show that intraspecific variation was higher in Ca. bravoi compared to its closest extant relative Arvicanthis niloticus, which supports the idea that phenotypic variability is more prevalent on islands than on the continent. Canariomys tamarani could represent an intermediate form between Arvicanthis and Ca. bravoi, as previously hypothesized. The midbrain exposure in Ca. bravoi is likely a derived feature due to the reduction in the neocortex. The relatively small size of the olfactory bulbs in Canariomys might be related to decreased predation risk. The relatively smaller petrosal lobules in Ca. tamarani and insular extant rodents could have resulted from a shift to slower locomotion compared to their mainland relatives. Overall, we show that, as in the insular lagomorph Nuralagus rex, decrease in various senses has also occurred in rodents living on islands.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2
2025-01-01
2025
2025-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://ddd.uab.cat/record/324088
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s10914-025-09785-0
url https://ddd.uab.cat/record/324088
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s10914-025-09785-0
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Generalitat de Catalunya https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 2021/BP-00042
Agencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 PID2020-117289GB-I00
Agencia Estatal de Investigación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 RYC2023-042630-I
Generalitat de Catalunya https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 2021/SGR-00620
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
instname:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
instname_str Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
collection Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869425743830712320
score 15.812429

Similares en LA Referencia