Simple shell measurements do not consistently predict habitat in turtles: a reply to Lichtig and Lucas (2017)use asterix (*) to get italics

Serjoscha W. Evers, Christian Foth, Walter G. Joyce, Guilherme HermansonPlease use the format "First name initials family name" as in "Marie S. Curie, Niels H. D. Bohr, Albert Einstein, John R. R. Tolkien, Donna T. Strickland"

2024

<p>Inferring palaeoecology for fossils is a key interest of palaeobiology. For groups with extant representatives, correlations of aspects of body shape with ecology can provide important insights to understanding extinct members of lineages. The origin and ancestral ecology of turtles is debated and various shell or limb proportions have been reported to correlate with habitat ecology among extant turtles, such that they may be informative for inferring the ecology of fossil turtles, including early shelled stem turtles. One recently described method proposes that simple shell measurements that effectively quantify shell doming and plastron width can differentiate habitat classes among extant turtles in linear discriminant analysis, whereby aquatic turtles have low domed shells with narrow plastra. The respective study proposes unorthodox habitat predictions for key fossil turtles, including aquatic lifestyles for the early turtle <em>Proganochelys quenstedtii</em> and the meiolaniform <em>Meiolania platyceps</em>, and terrestrial habits for the early turtle <em>Proterochersis robusta</em>. Here, we show that these published results are the consequence of questionable methodological choices such as omission of species data which do not conform to a preconceived shell shape-ecology association. When these choices are reversed, species measurements for fossils are corrected, and phylogenetic flexible discriminant analysis applied, habitat cannot be correctly predicted for extant turtles based on these simple shell measurements. This invalidates the method as well as the proposed palaeohabitats for fossils.</p>

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14275543, https://github.com/G-Hermanson/Reply_shell_measurements_LL2017/You should fill this box only if you chose 'All or part of the results presented in this preprint are based on data'. URL must start with http:// or https://

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14275543, https://github.com/G-Hermanson/Reply_shell_measurements_LL2017/You should fill this box only if you chose 'Scripts were used to obtain or analyze the results'. URL must start with http:// or https://

turtles, phylogenetic comparative methods, ecomorphology, shell, palaeoecology

NonePlease indicate the methods that may require specialised expertise during the peer review process (use a comma to separate various required expertises).

Evolutionary biology, Macroevolution, Morphological evolution, Morphometrics, Paleoecology, Vertebrate paleontology

Juliana Sterli julisterli@gmail.com, Evangelos Vlachos evlacho@mef.org.ar, James Parham jfparham@gmail.com

e.g. John Doe john@doe.com

No need for them to be recommenders of PCIPaleo. Please do not suggest reviewers for whom there might be a conflict of interest. Reviewers are not allowed to review preprints written by close colleagues (with whom they have published in the last four years, with whom they have received joint funding in the last four years, or with whom they are currently writing a manuscript, or submitting a grant proposal), or by family members, friends, or anyone for whom bias might affect the nature of the review - see the code of conduct

2024-04-19 13:31:59

Jordan Mallon