Ecology and Caudal Skeletal Morphology in Birds: The Convergent Evolution of Pygostyle Shape in Underwater Foraging Taxa

Ryan N. Felice; Patrick M. O’Connor

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089737

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Ecology and Caudal Skeletal Morphology in Birds: The Convergent Evolution of Pygostyle Shape in Underwater Foraging Taxa

Ryan N. Felice ,

* E-mail: rf273509@ohio.edu

Affiliations Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America, Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America
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Patrick M. O’Connor

Affiliations Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, Ohio, United States of America
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Ecology and Caudal Skeletal Morphology in Birds: The Convergent Evolution of Pygostyle Shape in Underwater Foraging Taxa

Ryan N. Felice,
Patrick M. O’Connor

Published: February 26, 2014
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089737

About the Authors

Ryan N. Felice

* E-mail: rf273509@ohio.edu

Affiliations Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America, Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America

Patrick M. O’Connor

Affiliations Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, Ohio, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: RNF PMO. Performed the experiments: RNF. Analyzed the data: RNF. Wrote the paper: RNF PMO.

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Bird flight
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Animal flight
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Tails
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Vertebrae
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Foraging
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Animal phylogenetics
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Birds
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Biological locomotion
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