Morphometrics Seminar
The focus of the morphometrics seminar this term is on the dynamics of phenotypic evolution, especially on theories of macroevolutionary dynamics. We will begin by reading several papers on these theories, such the ecological theory predicting an “early burst” of diversification and divergence in adaptive radiations. Then we will explore methods for assessing the relative support for alternative hypotheses. Because shape data are multivariate, we will focus on methods suitable for multivariate data. These are implemented in several R packages, including GEIGER, MOTMOT, SURFACE, plus there are packages that can display phylogenies mapped onto morphospaces (PHYTOOLS, GEOMORPH). There are many others that can analyze simple univariate traits such as size. Using data sets provided by participants or contained within the various packages, we will learn how to run the analyses and interpret statistical and graphical results. Familiarity with R is helpful but not necessary. The tentative meeting time is Monday, 5pm in the Paleontology classroom, 1532 Ruthven Museums beginning Sept. 16. If you want more information, please contact me (zelditch@umich.edu).
