The pace of morphological change: historical transformation of skull shape in St Bernard dogs

Abstract

Owing to the great morphological diversity of domestic dogs ( Canis familiaris ), the study of historical shape change in dog skulls provides an excellent opportunity for investigating the dynamics of morphological evolution. Breed standards make known which features were selected by breeders. Here we use the methods of geometric morphometrics to study change of skull shape in a series of purebred St Bernard dogs spanning nearly 120 years. A regression of shape on time was highly significant and revealed a consistent trend of shape change that corresponded to the features deemed desirable by the breed standard. Historical shape change in St Bernards involves a broadening of the skull and a tilting of the palate and upper jaw relative to the rest of the skull. This trend appears to be linear throughout the entire period and appears to be continuing. Allometry was ruled out as a contributing factor to this change because there was no consistent trend of historical change in skull size and because neither the patterns of static nor ontogenetic allometry corresponded to the historical shape change. The dramatic modification of the St Bernard skull demonstrates that selection can achieve sustained and substantial change and can completely overcome constraints such as allometry.