Biology

Using 3D-digital photogrammetry to examine scaling of the body axis in burrowing skinks

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) modeling techniques have been increasingly utilized across disciplines for the visualization and analysis of complex structures. We employ 3D-digital photogrammetry for understanding the scaling of the body axis of 12 species of scincid lizards in the genus Brachymeles. These skinks represent a diverse radiation which shows tremendous variation in body size and degree of axial elongation. Because of the complex nature of the body axis, 3D-methods are important for understanding how the body axis evolves. 3D-digital photogrammetry presents a flexible, inexpensive, and portable system for the reconstruction of biological forms. As body size increased among species, the cross-sectional area and circumference of the head and other portions of the body axis increased isometrically, which indicates that species of differing sizes possess proportionally similar head and body shapes. These results suggest that there are no substantial head and body shape changes with body size among the sampled species, but further comparative studies with larger sample sizes and functional studies of size and morphology effects on burrowing or above-ground locomotion are needed.

Publication Title

Journal of Morphology

Publication Date

11-1-2020

Volume

281

Issue

11

First Page

1382

Last Page

1390

ISSN

0362-2525

DOI

10.1002/jmor.21253

Keywords

3D-body forms, 3D-modeling, morphology, morphospace, reptiles, visualization

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