The recent trend in integrative biology has been to focus on the
integration of research at the sub-organismal level. And while this
nodoubt offers researchers the opportunity to collaborate andcombine
resources enabling incredible discoveries with regard to the
building blocks of vertebrate life, it should not be forgotten that
the majority of evolutionary processes occurs at the organismal
and population level. In the end, the functional morphology of an
organism will impact its reproductive fitness and adaptive performance,
thereby having the greatest impact on its evolution in the face of ecological changes.