Morphometrics Applications in Biology and Paleontology [Paperback]

This book offers a thorough and up-to-date treatment of the use of morphometric procedures in a wide variety of contexts. As one of the most dynamic and popular fields on the contemporary biological scene, morphometrics is gaining notice among researchers and students as a necessary complement to molecular studies in the understanding and maintenance of biodiversity. This is the first reference to meet that growing need.

Morphometrics is one of the most dynamic and popular fields on the contemporary biological scene. Focusing, as it does, on the quantitative characterization and analysis of morphological data, students increasingly see morphometrics as a necessary complement to molecular studies in their quests to understand the origin and maintenance of biodiversity. Moreover, morphometrics has recently been shown to have direct utility in phylogenetic contexts, by both finding new, and sharpening the definition of old, character states.

At this juncture in the fields development, a more up-to-date and thorough treatment of the use of morphometric procedures in a wide variety of contexts is needed. The book in hand, Morphometrics provides such answers to real-world questions for real-world systematists.

1 Introduction.- 2 Application of geometric morphometrics to the study of shape polymorphism in Eocene ostracodes from Egypt and Spain.- 3 Morphometric analysis of population differentiation and sexual dimorphism in the blue spiny lobster Panulirus inflatus (Bouvier 1895) from NW Mexico.- 4. The effect of alcohol and freezing preservation on carapace size and shape in Liocarcinus depurator (Crustacea, Brachyura).- 5 Allometric field decomposition  an attempt at morphogenetic morphometrics.- 6 A combined landmark and outline-based approach to ontogenetic shape change in the Ordovician trilobite Triarthrus becki.- 7 Morphological analysis of two- and three-dimensional images of branchl³‡