Hello everyone!

Thank you for getting back to me about the eigenvectors. Looking at the 
sample the 60th vector is indeed a rounding error. I am going to work to 
increase my sample size before running this again.

-Seth Boren

On Friday, August 12, 2022 at 8:37:00 PM UTC-5 [email protected] wrote:

> Hi Seth, 
>
> The number of meaningful PCs (i.e., those with non-zero variance) is 
> normally determined by the number of independent variables. In geometric 
> morphometrics that number is the number of landmark coordinates (k *2 for 
> 2D landmarks or k*3 for 3D). Procrustes superposition removes some of the 
> degrees of freedom from the variables, 4 for 2D landmarks (2 position or 
> translation, 1 size, and 1 rotation) or 7 for 3D (3 position, 1 size, and 3 
> rotation). For 30 3D landmarks you would expect 30*3-7 = 83 PCs. 
>
> However, sample size also limits degrees of freedom if n is less than 
> number of variables. Presuming you have 3D landmarks, your data are sample 
> limited. Technically you expect n-1 PCs for sample limited data, 59 in your 
> case. 
>
> Zelditch et al’s text _Geometric Morphometrics for Biologists_ provides an 
> explanation that is not overly heavy on mathematics.  Dryden & Mardia’s 
> _Statistical Analysis of Shape_ gives a more formal explanation. 
>
> There are several reasons why you might have 60 instead of 59: might be 
> rounding error and the last eigenvalue is really 0, might be the 
> non-Euclidean Kendall shape space which leaves just a little more apparent 
> variance than the Procrustes degrees of freedom suggests if your eigen 
> decomposition algorithm has high precision. 
>
> Note also that covariance between the landmarks also reduces the degrees 
> of freedom. If two coordinates covary completely then you have fewer 
> non-zero eigenvalues than expected. O’Keefe et al, 2022 discuss some of the 
> nuances related to covariance between landmarks( On Information Rank 
> Deficiency in Phenotypic Covariance Matrices. Syst Biol. 2022 Jun 
> 16;71(4):810-822. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syab088)
>
> Best wishes,
> David
>
>
>
> iPhone typing... 
> [email protected]
>
> On Aug 12, 2022, at 9:12 PM, Seth Boren <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>  
>
> Hello!
> My name is Seth Boren, and this is my first question I have ever asked 
> here! 
>
> I am working on a morphometric analysis that involves 60 specimens with 30 
> landmarks each. I have arranged the landmarks of these specimens into a 
> morphologika file and then ran it through a GPA then PCA using EVAN-Toolbox.
>
> The output file for my analysis has 60 PCs listed, with 60 eigenvalues 
> associated with them and the % explained variance broken up into 60 
> portions. However, shouldn't there be 30 PCs instead, equaling the number 
> of landmarks?
>
> If anyone could help me understand what is happening you have my eternal 
> thanks. 
>
> Thank you everyone for your time and consideration,
>
> -Seth Boren
>
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