Phenotypic integration and modularity are ubiquitous features of complex organisms,
describing the magnitude and pattern of relationships among biological traits. A key …

Morphological modularity arises in complex living beings due to a semi‐independent
inheritance, development, and function of body parts. Modularity helps us to understand the …

Identification of phenotypic modules, semiautonomous sets of highly correlated traits, can be
accomplished through exploratory (eg, cluster analysis) or confirmatory approaches (eg, RV …

The avian skull is distinctive in its construction and in its function. Much of bird anatomical
variety is expressed in the beak; but the beak itself, largely formed of the premaxillary bone …

Ontogenetic allometry, how species change with size through their lives, and heterochony, a
decoupling between shape, size, and age, are major contributors to biological diversity …

Variation is the raw material for natural selection, but the factors shaping variation are still
poorly understood. Genetic and developmental interactions can direct variation, but there …

Radiodonta is a clade of stem euarthropods of central importance to our understanding of
the evolution of this phylum. Radiodonts include some of the largest early Paleozoic …

The concept of evolvability—the capacity of a population to produce and maintain
evolutionarily relevant variation—has become increasingly prominent in evolutionary …

The arrangement and morphology of the vertebrate skull reflect functional and ecological
demands, making it a highly adaptable structure. However, the fundamental developmental …

Comparative studies of ontogenies play a crucial role in the understanding of the processes
of morphological diversification. These studies have benefited from the appearance of new …