Data files and R code supporting 'Concerted evolution of the cerebral cortex as an adaptive response to the land-to-water transition in caniforms' (Kirkwood et al., 2026)

This archive contain data and R scripts supporting “Concerted evolution of the cerebral cortex as an adaptive response to the land-to-water transition in caniforms” (Kirkwood et al., 2026). Using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics within a phylogenetic framework, we evaluate the concerted and mosaic hypotheses of brain evolution in the caniform cerebrum, focusing on the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. We demonstrate that although the caniform cerebrum generally evolves in a mosaic manner, the transition from land to water is associated with a more concerted pattern of evolution. This shift is accompanied by elevated evolutionary rates across cortical regions, suggesting that concerted evolution may facilitate rapid structural change in the cerebrum under strong selection in aquatic environments.