# Quantitative genetics and modularity in cranial and mandibular morphology of Calomys expulsus

## TL;DR

This study explores how genetic and phenotypic patterns in the skull and jaw of Calomys expulsus are shaped by developmental and functional factors.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel methodology using simulated evolutionary responses to analyze morphological integration.

## Key findings

- Genetic and phenotypic covariance matrices (G and P) show strong similarity in both skull and mandible.
- Similarity between G and P is linked to the spatial and temporal organization of developmental and functional interactions.
- Developmental and functional factors consistently explain trait associations in both matrices.

## Abstract

Patterns of genetic covariance between characters (represented by the covariance matrix G) play an important role in morphological evolution, since they interact with the evolutionary forces acting over populations. They are also expected to influence the patterns expressed in their phenotypic counterparts (P), because of limits imposed by multiple developmental and functional restrictions on the genotype/phenotype map. We have investigated genetic covariances in the skull and mandible of the vesper mouse (Calomys expulsus) in order to estimate the degree of similarity between genetic and phenotypic covariances and its potential roots on developmental and functional factors shaping those integration patterns. We use a classic ad hoc analysis of morphological integration based on current state of art of developmental/functional factors during mammalian ontogeny and also applied a novel methodology that makes use of simulated evolutionary responses. We have obtained P and G that are strongly similar, for both skull and mandible; their similarity is achieved through the spatial and temporal organization of developmental and functional interactions, which are consistently recognized as hypothesis of trait associations in both matrices.