{
  "abstract": "Morphological modularity is known to favour evolutionary diversification by enabling different body regions to vary in response to functional and ecological demands. Despite their remarkable diversity in limb morphology and ecology, amphibians—and salamanders in particular—remain significantly under-represented in empirical tests of modularity. Using geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods, we investigate patterns of shape variation, integration and modularity in the salamander autopodium. We first validated a landmark-based method to outline foot shape, demonstrating that image orientation does not affect shape analyses and that species can be reliably distinguished. We then applied this approach to a larger comparative dataset encompassing 149 salamander taxa across major lineages and ecological strategies. Our findings demonstrate that the salamander autopodium is functionally modular: the distal region (digits and interdigital region) shows more evolutionary lability than the proximal pes, while remaining integrated within a coordinated evolutionary system. Furthermore, the combinations of allometric, ecological and life-history factors account for a small but significant percentage of shape variation, with a low evolutionary signal in foot shape. Our results suggest that modular organization of the salamander foot may allow for morphological variation while still being limited by a common evolutionary and developmental history. By focusing on an understudied group and morphological system, this study provides new insight on how modularity influences limb evolution in tetrapods.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of Genova, Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV) 1 , Corso Europa 26, I-16132 Genova, Italy",
    "National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) 2 , Piazza Marina 61, I- 90133 Palermo (PA), Italy",
    "Research and Museum Collection Office, Conservation Biology Unit, MUSE - Science Museum 3 , Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122 Trento, Italy",
    "Fauna studium, Scientific Consulting 4 , 25 Avenue du Jabron, 04200 Sisteron, France",
    "Italian National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Bioeconomy – Biology, Agriculture and Food Sciences Department (IBE) 5 , Via dei Taurini, 19, 00185 Roma, Italy",
    "Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, Unidad de Ecología, Universidad de Oviedo 6 , C/ Valentín Andŕes Alvarez s/n, 33006, Oviedo, Spain"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Giacomo Rosa",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3386-0459"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Emma Centomo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Andrea Costa"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Elisa Damonte",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-5243-6920"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Julien Renet"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Antonio Romano"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Luca Roner"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sebastiano Salvidio"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Sara Ferrando"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9pqp5djevx539.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1098/rsos.261083",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13682868",
  "id": "9pqp5djevx539",
  "issns": [
    "2054-5703"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/261083/483790/Modularity-without-convergence-integrated",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2608|Morphological variations and asymmetry"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223061862",
  "pdf_url": "https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article-pdf/doi/10.1098/rsos.261083/6172290/rsos.261083.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13682868",
  "pmid": "42904280",
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": "The Royal Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9pqp5djevx539.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:45Z",
      "native_id": "10.1098/rsos.261083",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/261083/483790/Modularity-without-convergence-integrated"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42904280",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42904280"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "mathematics",
      "origin": "openalex:2608|Morphological variations and asymmetry",
      "subfield": "geometry-topology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Modularity without convergence: integrated evolution of the salamander autopodium",
  "title_text": "Modularity without convergence: integrated evolution of the salamander autopodium",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9pqp5djevx539",
  "venue": "Royal Society Open Science",
  "versions": []
}