Early sarcopterygian morphological disparity through the Devonian-Carboniferous crisis

Abstract

Abstract Major morphological adaptations characterized the early evolutionary history of sarcopterygians during the Devonian (419–359 Ma) and the Carboniferous (359–299 Ma), punctuated by environmental changes and biodiversity crises. Here we present geometric morphometrics analyses of early sarcopterygian morphology to explore the impact of environmental and phylogenetic constraints on their morphology. Three analyses were performed by digitizing 2D landmarks and semi-landmarks on palaeontological reconstructions of the body shape, cheek, and skull roof. Major changes in shape seem associated with geological and biological changes from the Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous (Mississippian). An increase in shape diversity occurred during the Middle Devonian, when the first forests appeared, influencing freshwater and transitional environments, and when reef ecosystems were the most diversified. Skull roof and cheek disparity decrease during the end-Devonian mass extinction and recover during the Mid-Late Mississippian, with the reemergence of metazoan reefs and the rise of surviving groups such as actinistians. The skull roof disparity is associated primarily with shared ancestry and appears to be largely driven by the lack of an intracranial joint in dipnoans and tetrapods. The Devonian to Carboniferous environmental changes constitute a major turning point in early sarcopterygian history by having deeply impacted their morphological disparity.