Editing Morphometrics (section)

{{Short description|Quantitative study of size and shape}}
[[File:Confuciusornithidae sizes.png|thumb|360px|right|Size of genera in the extinct bird family [[Confuciusornithidae]], compared to a human (1.75 meter tall). '''A.''' ''[[Changchengornis]]''. Based on the [[holotype]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Chiappe | first1 = L.M. | display-authors = etal | year = 1999 | title = A new Late Mesozoic Confuciusornithid Bird from China | url = http://dinosaurs.nhm.org/staff/pdf/1999Qiang_et_al.pdf | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 19 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–7 | doi = 10.1080/02724634.1999.10011117 | bibcode = 1999JVPal..19....1Q }}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> '''B.''' ''[[Confuciusornis]]''. Based on several specimens of about the same size.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Norell | first1 = M.A. | display-authors = etal | year = 1999 | title = Anatomy and systematics of the Confuciusornithidae (Theropoda: Aves) from the late Mesozoic of northeastern China | url = http://dinosaurs.nhm.org/staff/pdf/1999Chiappe_et_al.pdf | journal = Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History | volume = 242 | page = 10 | access-date = 2013-03-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111119134704/http://dinosaurs.nhm.org/staff/pdf/1999Chiappe_et_al.pdf | archive-date = 2011-11-19 | url-status = dead }}</ref> '''C.''' ''[[Eoconfuciusornis]]''. Based on the holotype IVPP V11977.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Benton | first1 = M.J. | display-authors = etal   | year = 2008 | title = A primitive confuciusornithid bird from China and its implications for early avian flight | url = https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:yZ9hWYufOTkJ:www.scichina.com:8080/sciDe/fileup/PDF/08yd0625.pdf+confuciusornis+sanctus&hl=sv&gl=se&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgGH0kXf4JBqvUbaKTlqRg9fq5SjRdkHyFgZTBqkUN3ZJGWiD9kuvEzBeUVX4FQhXK9TaBoM-2vf_42oLyDsVF6PVrId9svyzimXypYXE1_xFU3eeh6lraoe8mumL_DgR6W-ItC&sig=AHIEtbRnqHgTbCmelN8cNBPdz_zdKcu1CA | journal = Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences | volume = 51 | issue = 5| pages = 625–639 | doi = 10.1007/s11430-008-0050-3 | bibcode = 2008ScChD..51..625Z | s2cid = 84157320 | url-access = subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Chiappe | first1 = L.M. | display-authors = etal   | year = 2008 | title = Life history of a basal bird: morphometrics of the Early Cretaceous ''Confuciusornis'' | journal = Biology Letters | volume = 4 | issue = 6| pages = 719–723 | doi=10.1098/rsbl.2008.0409 | pmid=18832054 | pmc=2614169}}</ref>]]
[[File:Measuring shell length (18744011501) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Measuring shell length in [[bog turtle]]s.]]

'''Morphometrics''' (from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] μορΦή ''morphe'', "shape, form", and -μετρία ''metria'', "measurement") or '''morphometry'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com/;jsessionid=3ECC7D5EDBE87ECFCCD62D9BD27A35D8?authRejection=true&url=%2Fview%2FEntry%2F122372%3FredirectedFrom%3Dmorphometrics|title=Home : Oxford English Dictionary|website=oed.com|access-date=21 April 2018}}</ref> refers to the quantitative analysis of '''''form''''', a concept that encompasses size and shape.  Morphometric analyses are commonly performed on organisms, and are useful in analyzing their fossil record, the impact of mutations on shape, developmental changes in form, covariances between ecological factors and shape, as well for estimating quantitative-genetic parameters of shape. Morphometrics can be used to quantify a trait of evolutionary significance, and by detecting changes in the shape, deduce something of their [[ontogeny]], function or evolutionary relationships.  A major objective of morphometrics is to statistically test hypotheses about the factors that affect shape.

"Morphometrics", in the broader sense, is also used to precisely locate certain areas of organs such as the brain,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www-sop.inria.fr/epidaure/personnel/Miguel.Gonzalez/Thesis.pdf|title=Morphometric Analysis of Brain Structures in MRI|last=González Ballester|first=Miguel Ángel|date=1999|website=Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chollet |first1=Madeleine B. |last2=Aldridge |first2=Kristina |last3=Pangborn |first3=Nicole |last4=Weinberg |first4=Seth M. |last5=DeLeon |first5=Valerie B. |author6-link=Jean-Claude Baron |last6=Baron |first6=Jean-Claude |title=Landmarking the Brain for Geometric Morphometric Analysis: An Error Study |journal=PLOS ONE |date=28 January 2014 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=e86005 |pmc =3904856|pmid = 24489689|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0086005|bibcode = 2014PLoSO...986005C|doi-access=free }}</ref> and in describing the shapes of other things.