Postdoctoral Fellow Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Okinawa, Okinawa, Japan
Morphology is among the primary sources of biological information that are easily accessible, replicable, and measurable. Exploring variation in organisms form can generate robust evidence about its roles and understand its relationship with environmental conditions and phylogenetic traits. In social insects, marked morphological differences often reflect the division of labor into distinct castes, which might have played a crucial role in its extraordinary adaptive success. Among the social insects, several ant lineages have experienced further morphological differentiation, with specialized individuals within the worker caste. Considering the genus Pheidole, which encompasses about 1,170 valid species, we can recognize an extreme morphological variation within and among species. This genus is known for the conspicuous dimorphism within its worker caste, with specialized individuals known as major workers. Besides this discrepant morphology within species, Pheidole presents a great interspecific diversity of forms with multiple morphological convergences in distant lineages. Understanding the causes that lead to this significant variation and its potential functions has puzzled researchers for decades. In recent years, new sources of morphological data have developed due to the emergence of new technologies in computation and microscopy, particularly the advent of interactive and three-dimensional (3D) imagery. This talk will overview recently published and ongoing projects employing morphology within various quantitative systematic frameworks focusing on our current understanding of shape evolution in the hyperdiverse genus Pheidole. Additionally, I will explore how these recent technological advances can quickly produce morphological datasets that can be analyzed comparatively within an evolutionary context.
