The relative importance of body size, phylogeny, locomotion, and diet in the evolution of forelimb dexterity in fissiped carnivores (Carnivora)

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Abstract
Using a new rating scale of forelimb dexterity that separates the contribution of proximal components (shoulder, upper forelimb, and lower forelimb) from distal components (forepaw), we examined the relationship between functional demands and phylogeny and forelimb dexterity in 45 species of fissiped carnivores (Carnivora). Specifically, we examined the effects of body size, phylogenetic relatedness, diet (vertebrate predation), and locomotion (arboreality) on the differential evolution of forelimb dexterity. Regression analyses indicate that, although body size does appear to be positively correlated with the dexterity of the proximal components, the inclusion of phylogenetic information results in a nonsignificant relationship. Phylogenetic relatedness was found to account for a significant amount of interspecific variation in proximal, distal, and total (proximal + distal) dexterity. When phylogenetic effects were incorporated, arboreality was not significantly correlated with any of the dexterity scores, but vertebrate predation was, albeit a negative correlation. The amount of variation in the dexterity of proximal and distal components did, however, differ in magnitude within each significant result. Thus, each component can be differentially affected by specific functional demands. By examining the significant associations with diet and phylogeny and mapping the dexterity scores onto the phylogeny, we also demonstrate that the ancestral degree of forelimb dexterity of both the caniform and feliform lineages was approximately equal to that of the average extant carnivore. Thus, forelimb dexterity has decreased or increased within particular lineages, with reductions or elaborations in some species resulting from the invasion of specific niches not occupied by congeners.

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