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121 results for “body size variation”
Data for: Beyond latitude: Temperature, productivity, and thermal niche conservatism drive global body size variation in Odonata
<p><strong><span>Aim</span></strong><span>: </span><span>So far, </span><span>latitudinal body size-clines have been primarily discussed in the context of thermoregulation, sensu Bergmann. However, body size patterns are ambiguous in ectotherms and this heterogeneity remains poorly understood. We tested whether Bergmann's rule and the resource availability rule which states that energetic requirements determine species' body size, apply to damselflies and dragonflies (Odonata). Furthermore, we hypothesised that the contrasting effects of thermoregulation and resource availability (e.g. productivity) can obscure the overall gradient in body size variation.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Location</strong>: </span><span>Global</span></p> <p><span><strong>Time</strong> <strong>period</strong>: </span><span>Contemporary</span></p> <p><span><strong>Major</strong> <strong>taxa</strong> <strong>studied</strong>: </span><span>Odonata</span></p> <p><span><strong>Methods</strong>:</span><span> Using data for 43% of all odonate species described so far, we tested our hypotheses in phylogenetically and spatially comparative analyses at assemblage and species level. </span><span>For the distribution data, we integrated expert range maps and ecoregional ranges based on all available occurrence records. To distinguish between long-term versus evolutionarily recent responses of environmental drivers in body size, we constructed a phylogenetically informed classification of all odonate species and decomposed the body size into its phylogenetic and specific component for our subset of species.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Results</strong>: </span><span>We documented a weak positive relationship between body length and latitude but found strong and contrasting effects for temperature between dragonflies and damselflies and consistent positive effects for productivity that explained 35%–57% of body size variation. Moreover, we showed a strong phylogenetic signal in sized-based thermoregulation that shaped the distribution of dragonflies, but not of damselflies.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Main</strong> <strong>conclusion</strong>: </span><span>We concluded that temperature, productivity, and conservatism in size-based thermoregulation synergistically determine the distribution of ectotherms, while the taxon-specific importance of these factors can lead to contrasting results and weak latitude–size relationships. Our results reinforce the importance of body size as a determinant of species distributions and responses to climate change.</span></p>
The roles of phylogeny, body size and substrate use in trabecular bone variation among Philippine 'earthworm mice' (Rodentia: Chrotomyini)
<p>Trabecular bone is modelled throughout an animal's life in response to its mechanical environment, but like other skeletal anatomy, it is also subject to evolutionary influences. Yet the relative strengths of factors that affect trabecular bone architecture are little studied. We investigated these influences across the Philippine endemic murine rodent clade Chrotomyini. These mammals have robustly established phylogenetic relationships, exhibit a range of well-documented substrate-use types, and have a body size range spanning several hundred grammes, making them ideal for a tractable study of extrinsic and intrinsic influences on trabecular bone morphology.</p> <p>We found slight differences in vertebral trabecular bone among different substrate-use categories, with more divergent characteristics in more ecologically specialized taxa. This suggests that the mechanical environment must be relatively extreme to affect trabecular bone morphology in small mammals. We also recovered allometric patterns that imply that selective pressures on bone may differ between small and large mammals. Finally, we found high intrataxonomic variation in trabecular bone morphology, but it is not clearly related to any variable we measured, and may represent a normal degree of variation in these animals rather than a functional trait. Future studies should address how this plasticity affects biomechanical properties and performance of the skeleton.</p>
Data from: Geographic variation in the altitudinal migration patterns, body size, oxidative status and exploratory behavior in a neotropical bird
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Data from: Body size variation in aquatic consumers causes pervasive community effects, independent of mean body size
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Data from: Influence of intra- and interspecific variation in predator-prey body size ratios on trophic interaction strengths
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Data from: Body size rather than reflectivity explains thermal constraints on colour variation in an aposematic jewel bug
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Predator-mediated resource limitation shapes body and head size variation in stickleback populations
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Genetic differentiation underlies seasonal variation in thermal tolerance, body size, and plasticity in a short-lived copepod
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Body size variation in polyplacophoran mollusks: geographic clines and community structure along the Southeastern Pacific
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Evolutionary rates and shape variation along the anuran vertebral column with attention to phylogeny, body size, and ecology
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Data for: Beyond latitude: Temperature, productivity, and thermal niche conservatism drive global body size variation in Odonata
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The roles of phylogeny, body size and substrate use in trabecular bone variation among Philippine ‘earthworm mice’ (Rodentia: Chrotomyini)
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Variation in body size and sexual size dimorphism in the most widely-ranging lizard: testing the effects of reproductive mode and climate
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Data from: Host identity, nest quality, and parasitism strategy: influences on body size variation in parasitoid bees and wasps
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Data from: Characterizing morphological (co)variation using structural equation models: body size, allometric relationships and evolvability in a house sparrow metapopulation
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Data from: The patterns and possible causes of global geographical variation in the body size of the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)
Aim: Geographical variations in endotherm body size (e.g., Bergmann's rule/James's rule and Allen's rule) have long been tested. However, the patterns and causes of geographical variation in body size within bat species, especially within widespread hibernating species, are little known. Here, we evaluated the possible causes of geographical size variation patterns in the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), a bat species widely distributed across the Palearctic. Location: Palearctic Methods: We collected body size data (body mass and forearm length) from 1172 adult bats via direct measurements or from the literature. We used high-resolution environmental data for the sampled sites. We applied multiple linear regressions and an information-theoretic approach on separate female and male datasets to estimate the support for various hypotheses. Results: Temperature and latitude failed to predict body mass in both females and males. The best model showed that populations with longer forearms in both sexes were associated with higher mean temperatures (in the warmest quarter) and lower mean temperatures (in the coldest quarter). The independent contribution of these temperature parameters to forearm length in both sexes was higher than that of all other variables. Main conclusion: The observed relationship between temperature and body mass was not consistent with James's rule, and thus failed to support the heat conservation hypothesis. Our results are consistent with the predictions of Allen's rule and indicated that direct heat dissipation from the wing may be the most likely mechanism underlying geographical variation in forearm length. We suggest that the evaluation of the relative importance of multiple causal mechanisms may improve our understanding of patterns of geographical variation in endotherms.
Data from: Body size variation in a guild of carrion beetles
<p>Body size is a key biological trait, influencing the biomechanics, physiology, behaviour, and ecology of species. Describing variation in body size within and among co-occurring species within an ecological guild can provide important context for understanding the ecology of species and the structure of ecological communities. Here, we focus on a guild of carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) co-occurring in southeastern Ontario, Canada. We examine how body size varies (i) among species, (ii) within species, including among sexes, and (iii) across the active season, contrasting estimates of size based on mass with those based on morphological structure (elytron length). We find that body size varies significantly both within and among species. Five focal species show evidence for sexual dimorphism in size. All focal species show significant seasonal variation in size, but these patterns differ across species, and depend on our estimates of size. Overall, the observed variation in body size is most consistent with widespread environmental constraints on size and/or diverse selective pressures favouring different sizes within and among species. We discuss possible selective pressures acting on size within and among species; however, the causes and consequences of the variation in body size that we describe remain to be discovered.</p>
Data from: Lean-season primary productivity and heat dissipation as key drivers of geographic body-size variation in a widespread marsupial
Geographic body-size variation characterises many mammal species. Hypotheses centring around heat conservation, heat dissipation, primary productivity and seasonality have been advanced to explain geographic body-size patterns. However, identification of the primary body-size drivers has often been hampered by a paucity of data for broadly distributed species and the application of regression models that have not explicitly accounted for the spatial clustering inherent in such datasets. We used Australia's most widespread marsupial, the common brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula, as a model species with which to test five proposed drivers of geographic body-size variation. Using geo-referenced skull measurements from 588 specimens and a suite of putative environmental covariates, we employed spatial simultaneous autoregressive models, together with information criteria, to evaluate these different hypotheses. Our analysis identified a strong, positive relationship between possum body size and primary productivity during the least productive season, whereas the relationship with mean annual productivity received less support. Consistent with the heat-dissipation hypothesis, T. vulpecula body size also decreased with increasing mean summer maximum temperature. Spatial autoregression coefficients estimated from the simultaneous autoregressive models were always high, suggesting that additional abiotic or biotic factors might contribute to the spatial patterns observed. We argue that the analysis of geographic body-size variation should consider multi-causal possibilities rather than treating the numerous hypotheses as competing, mutually exclusive alternatives.
Data from: Body size and allometric shape variation in the molly Poecilia vivipara along a gradient of salinity and predation
Background: Phenotypic diversity among populations may result from divergent natural selection acting directly on traits or via correlated responses to changes in other traits. One of the most frequent patterns of correlated response is the proportional change in the dimensions of anatomical traits associated with changes in growth or absolute size, known as allometry. Livebearing fishes subject to predation gradients have been shown to repeatedly evolve larger caudal peduncles and smaller cranial regions under high predation regimes. Poecilia vivipara is a livebearing fish commonly found in coastal lagoons in the north of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Similar to what is observed in other predation gradients, lagoons inhabited by P. vivipara vary in the presence of piscivorous fishes; contrary to other poeciliid systems, populations of P. vivipara vary greatly in body size, which opens the possibility of strong allometric effects on shape variation. Here we investigated body shape diversification among six populations of P. vivipara along a predation gradient and its relationship with allometric trajectories within and among populations.ResultsWe found substantial body size variation and correlated shape changes among populations. Multivariate regression analysis showed that size variation among populations accounted for 66% of shape variation in females and 38% in males, suggesting that size is the most important dimension underlying shape variation among populations of P. vivipara in this system. Changes in the relative sizes of the caudal peduncle and cranial regions were only partly in line with predictions from divergent natural selection associated with predation regime.ConclusionsOur results suggest the possibility that adaptive shape variation among populations has been partly constrained by allometry in P. vivipara. Processes governing body size changes are therefore important in the diversification of this species. We conclude that in species characterized by substantial among-population differences in body size, ignoring allometric effects when investigating divergent natural selection?s role in phenotypic diversification might not be warranted.
Data from: Geographic variation of body size in new world anurans: energy and water in a balance
The validity of Bergmann's rule, perhaps the best known ecogeographical rule, has been questioned for ectothermic species. Here, we explore the interspecific version of the rule documenting body size gradients for anurans across the whole New World and evaluating which environmental variables best explain the observed patterns. We assembled a dataset of body sizes for 2761 anuran species of the Western Hemisphere and conducted assemblage-based and cross-species analyses that consider the spatial and phylogenetic structure in the data. In accordance with heat and water-related explanations for body size clines, we found a consistent association of median body size and potential evapotranspiration across the New World. A relevant role of water availability also emerges, suggesting the joint importance of body size for thermoregulation and hydroregulation in anurans. Anurans do not follow a simple Bergmannian pattern of increasing size towards high latitudes. Consistent with previous regional findings, our Hemisphere-wide analyses detect that the geographic variation in anuran body sizes is highly dependent on a trade-off between heat and water balance. The observed size-climate relationships possibly emerge from the interplay between thermoregulatory abilities and the benefits inherent to reduced surface-to-volume ratios in larger species, which decrease the rates of evaporative water loss and favour heat retention. Our results also show how temperature becomes important for species that are directly in contact with the substrate and water, like burrowing and terrestrial anurans, while arboreal species exhibit a body size cline linked with potential evapotranspiration.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.