TY - JOUR
T1 - Facial asymmetry tracks genetic diversity among Gorilla subspecies
AU - McGrath, Kate
AU - Eriksen, Amandine B.
AU - García-Martínez, Daniel
AU - Galbany, Jordi
AU - Gómez-Robles, Aida
AU - Massey, Jason S.
AU - Fatica, Lawrence M.
AU - Glowacka, Halszka
AU - Arbenz-Smith, Keely
AU - Muvunyi, Richard
AU - Stoinski, Tara S.
AU - Cranfield, Michael R.
AU - Gilardi, Kirsten
AU - Shalukoma, Chantal
AU - Merode, Emmanuel De
AU - Gilissen, Emmanuel
AU - Tocheri, Matthew W.
AU - McFarlin, Shannon C.
AU - Heuzé, Yann
N1 - Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 798117, The Ohio State University President's Postdoctoral Scholars Program, National Geographic Society (8486-08), National Science Foundation (BCS 0852866, 0964944, 1520221, 1753651), The Leakey Foundation, the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, and the 2010 Max Planck Research Award to Timothy G. Bromage endowed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to the Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This study received support from the French Government in the framework of the Investments for the Future Programme IdEx Université de Bordeaux/GPR Human Past, and from the SYNTHESYS Project http://www.synthesys.info , which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 ‘Capacities' Program. Acknowledgements
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Royal Society Publishing. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Mountain gorillas are particularly inbred compared to other gorillas and even the most inbred human populations. As mountain gorilla skeletal material accumulated during the 1970s, researchers noted their pronounced facial asymmetry and hypothesized that it reflects a population-wide chewing side preference. However, asymmetry has also been linked to environmental and genetic stress in experimental models. Here, we examine facial asymmetry in 114 crania from three Gorilla subspecies using 3D geometric morphometrics. We measure fluctuating asymmetry (FA), defined as random deviations from perfect symmetry, and population-specific patterns of directional asymmetry (DA). Mountain gorillas, with a current population size of about 1000 individuals, have the highest degree of facial FA (explaining 17% of total facial shape variation), followed by Grauer gorillas (9%) and western lowland gorillas (6%), despite the latter.
AB - Mountain gorillas are particularly inbred compared to other gorillas and even the most inbred human populations. As mountain gorilla skeletal material accumulated during the 1970s, researchers noted their pronounced facial asymmetry and hypothesized that it reflects a population-wide chewing side preference. However, asymmetry has also been linked to environmental and genetic stress in experimental models. Here, we examine facial asymmetry in 114 crania from three Gorilla subspecies using 3D geometric morphometrics. We measure fluctuating asymmetry (FA), defined as random deviations from perfect symmetry, and population-specific patterns of directional asymmetry (DA). Mountain gorillas, with a current population size of about 1000 individuals, have the highest degree of facial FA (explaining 17% of total facial shape variation), followed by Grauer gorillas (9%) and western lowland gorillas (6%), despite the latter.
KW - asymmetry
KW - geometric morphometrics
KW - great apes
KW - inbreeding
KW - stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125154286&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85125154286&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2021.2564
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2021.2564
M3 - Article
C2 - 35193404
AN - SCOPUS:85125154286
VL - 289
JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
SN - 0800-4622
IS - 1969
M1 - 20212564
ER -