Szostakiwskyj, MattAnderson, Jason Scott2024-07-032024-07-032022-01-25Szostakiwskyj, M., & Anderson, J. S. (2022). Salamander braincase morphology as revealed by micro-computed tomography. Journal of Morphology, 283(4), 462–501. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21454https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119054https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/46650Morphological data sets are misleading in salamander (Caudata) phylogeny due to the relative homoplasy of the dermal skull observed in paedomorphic forms, leading to the trend of excluding morphology when exploring questions of salamander phylogeny. Investigations in caecilians (Gymnophiona) have demonstrated that the inclusion of braincase morphology can rescue morphological phylogenetic analyses and produce topologies congruent with molecular data sets. We scanned 28 species (25 genera) of salamander, representing all 10 families, with high-resolution micro-computed tomography to investigate braincase variation. We describe the morphology of the braincase for all 10 families and distinguish between paedomorphic and metamorphic morphologies. Our results demonstrate a general uniformity amongst metamorphic species with variation largely restricted to the occipito-otic region. A greater range of variation is observed within paedomorphic forms than would be expected when considering the homoplasy of the dermal skull. Obligate paedomorphic forms demonstrate considerably more variation in the anterior braincase than do facultative paedomorphs, which we suggest is evidence of a greater complexity in the evolution and development of these forms than neoteny alone would produce. This raises the question of character independence within morphological data sets and warrants further investigation into the correlation of other characters before morphological data are omitted.enUnless otherwise indicated, this material is protected by copyright and has been made available with authorization from the copyright owner. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.salamanderbraincase anatomyphylogenyCaudataArticleDiscovery Grants 2017-04821 and 327756-201110.1002/jmor.21454