Understanding the interplay between morphological integration and modularity is considered an important topic in the study of the evolution of the form of complex structures. The mandible is a complex structure that can be shaped by diverse factors such as ontogeny, ecology, and evolutionary history. In canids, this is particularly interesting because they have a large diversity in feeding behavior and hunting strategy. Here, we employed geometric morphometric techniques to evaluate the balance between integration and modularity in 1011 mandibles of a sample of extinct and extant canids. The results show that allometric scaling seems to have little influence in determining the mandibular shape of canids. Some divergence associated with ecology was observed, especially for highly specialized taxa (hypercarnivores and insectivores). Finally, macroevolutionary patterns were more integrated than intraspecific patterns, suggesting that correlational selection might play a strong role in the evolution of mandibular form and function. We found no evidence of an evolutionary line of least resistance in shaping mandible disparity.

中文翻译：

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犬科动物下颌骨的整合或模块化（食肉目：犬科）：一种几何形态测量方法

理解形态整合和模块化之间的相互作用被认为是复杂结构形式演化研究中的一个重要课题。下颌骨是一个复杂的结构，可以由个体发育、生态和进化历史等多种因素塑造。在犬科动物中，这尤其有趣，因为它们在进食行为和狩猎策略上有很大的多样性。在这里，我们采用几何形态测量技术来评估已灭绝和现存犬科动物样本的 1011 下颌骨的集成和模块化之间的平衡。结果表明，异速生长缩放似乎对确定犬科动物的下颌形状几乎没有影响。观察到与生态相关的一些分歧，特别是对于高度专业化的分类群（超级食肉动物和食虫动物）。最后，宏观进化模式比种内模式更完整，表明相关选择可能在下颌形态和功能的进化中发挥重要作用。我们没有发现在塑造下颌骨差异方面阻力最小的进化线的证据。