Data from: Patterns of cranial ontogeny in lacertid lizards: morphological and allometric disparity

We explored the ontogenetic dynamics of the morphological and allometric disparity in the cranium shapes of twelve lacertid lizard species. The analysed species (Darevskia praticola, Dinarolacerta mosorensis, Iberolacerta horvathi, Lacerta agilis, L. trilineata, L. viridis, Podarcis erhardii, P. melisellensis, P. muralis, P. sicula, P. taurica and Zootoca vivipara) can be classified into different ecomorphs: terrestrial lizards that inhabit vegetated habitats (habitats with lush or sparse vegetation), saxicolous and shrub-climbing lizards. We observed that there was an overall increase in the morphological disparity (MD) during the ontogeny of the lacertid lizards. The ventral cranium, which is involved in the mechanics of jaw movement and feeding, showed higher levels of MD, an ontogenetic shift in the morphospace planes and more variable allometric patterns than more conserved dorsal crania. With respect to ecology, the allometric trajectories of the shrub-climbing species tended to cluster together, whereas the allometric trajectories of the saxicolous species were highly dispersed. Our results indicate that the ontogenetic patterns of morphological and allometric disparity in the lacertid lizards are modified by ecology and functional constraints and that the identical mechanisms that lead to intraspecific morphological variation also produce morphological divergence at higher taxonomic levels.本研究探讨了12种蜥蜴科（Lacertidae）蜥蜴颅骨形态的个体发育动态及形态与异速增长差异。本次分析的物种包括草原捷蜥（Darevskia praticola）、莫氏迪纳拉蜥（Dinarolacerta mosorensis）、霍氏伊比利亚蜥（Iberolacerta horvathi）、草甸蜥蜴（Lacerta agilis）、三线蜥蜴（Lacerta trilineata）、绿色蜥蜴（Lacerta viridis）、埃尔哈德壁蜥（Podarcis erhardii）、梅利塞拉壁蜥（Podarcis melisellensis）、普通壁蜥（Podarcis muralis）、西西里壁蜥（Podarcis sicula）、陶尔壁蜥（Podarcis taurica）以及胎生蜥（Zootoca vivipara），上述物种可划分为三类生态形态型（ecomorphs）：栖息于植被覆盖生境（含茂密或稀疏植被生境）的陆栖蜥蜴、石栖蜥蜴与攀灌栖蜥蜴。研究观察到，蜥蜴科蜥蜴的形态差异度（morphological disparity, MD）在个体发育进程中整体呈上升趋势。参与下颌运动与摄食力学过程的腹侧颅骨，其形态差异度显著高于更为保守的背侧颅骨，且在形态空间平面（morphospace planes）上存在个体发育位移，异速增长模式（allometric patterns）也更为多变。从生态学视角来看，攀灌栖物种的异速增长轨迹倾向于聚为一类，而石栖物种的异速增长轨迹则呈现高度分散的特征。本研究结果表明，蜥蜴科蜥蜴的形态与异速增长差异的个体发育模式受到生态学与功能约束的调控，且驱动种内形态变异（intraspecific morphological variation）的相同机制，同样能够在更高分类阶元（higher taxonomic levels）上产生形态分化。