A new phylogenetic test for comparing multiple high-dimensional evolutionary rates suggests interplay of evolutionary rates and modularity in lanternfishes (Myctophiformes; Myctophidae).

The interplay between evolutionary rates and modularity influences the evolution of organismal body plans by both promoting and constraining the magnitude and direction of trait response to ecological conditions. However, few studies have examined whether the best-fit hypothesis of modularity is the same as the shape subset with the greatest difference in evolutionary rate. Here, we develop a new phylogenetic comparative method for comparing evolutionary rates among high-dimensional traits, and apply this method to analyze body shape evolution in bioluminescent lanternfishes. We frame the study of evolutionary rates and modularity through analysis of three hypotheses derived from the literature on fish development, biomechanics, and bioluminescent communication. We show that a development-informed partitioning of shape exhibits the greatest evolutionary rate differences among modules, but that a hydrodynamically informed partitioning is the best-fit modularity hypothesis. Furthermore, we show that bioluminescent lateral photophores evolve at a similar rate as, and are strongly integrated with, body shape in lanternfishes. These results suggest that overlapping life-history constraints on development and movement define axes of body shape evolution in lanternfishes, and that the positions of their lateral photophore complexes are likely a passive outcome of the interaction of these ecological pressures.