Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

Nature Research, Nature Communications, 1(10), 2019

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13405-w

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Comparative analysis of squamate brains unveils multi-level variation in cerebellar architecture associated with locomotor specialization

Journal article published in 2019 by Simone Macrì ORCID, Yoland Savriama ORCID, Imran Khan ORCID, Nicolas Di-Poï ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

AbstractEcomorphological studies evaluating the impact of environmental and biological factors on the brain have so far focused on morphology or size measurements, and the ecological relevance of potential multi-level variations in brain architecture remains unclear in vertebrates. Here, we exploit the extraordinary ecomorphological diversity of squamates to assess brain phenotypic diversification with respect to locomotor specialization, by integrating single-cell distribution and transcriptomic data along with geometric morphometric, phylogenetic, and volumetric analysis of high-definition 3D models. We reveal significant changes in cerebellar shape and size as well as alternative spatial layouts of cortical neurons and dynamic gene expression that all correlate with locomotor behaviours. These findings show that locomotor mode is a strong predictor of cerebellar structure and pattern, suggesting that major behavioural transitions in squamates are evolutionarily correlated with mosaic brain changes. Furthermore, our study amplifies the concept of ‘cerebrotype’, initially proposed for vertebrate brain proportions, towards additional shape characters.