Ecomorphological diversity of Australian tadpoles

Abstract

Ecomorphology is the association between an organism’s morphology and its ecology. Larval anuran amphibians (tadpoles) are classified into distinct ecomorphological guilds based upon morphological features and observations of their ecology. The extent to which guilds comprise distinct morphologies resulting from convergent evolution, the degree of morphological variability within each guild, and the degree of continuity in shape between guilds has not previously been examined in a phylogenetically-informed statistical framework. Here we examine tadpole ecomorphological guilds at a macroevolutionary scale by examining morphological diversity across the Australian continent. We use ecological data to classify species to guilds, and geometric morphometrics to quantify body shape in the tadpoles of 188 species, 77% of Australian frog diversity. We find that the ecomorphological guilds represented by Australian species are morphologically distinct, but there is substantial morphological variation associated with each guild, and all guilds together form a morphological continuum. However in a phylogenetic comparative context there is no significant difference in body shape among guilds. We also relate the morphological diversity of the Australian assemblage of tadpoles to a global sample and demonstrate that ecomorphological diversity of Australian tadpoles is limited with respect to worldwide species. Our results demonstrate that general patterns of ecomorphological variation are upheld in Australian tadpoles, but tadpole body shape is more variable and possibly generalist than generally appreciated.