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139 results for “Body size evolution”
Data from: Body size evolution on islands: are adult size variations in tiger snakes a non-adaptive consequence of selection on birth size?
Mean adult size has been used as the traditional measure of body size to explain trends of insular gigantism and dwarfism in a wide array of taxa. However, patterns of variation in body size at birth have received surprisingly little attention, leaving open the possibility that adult body-size differences are nonadaptive consequences of selection acting on neonate body size. Here I used an empirical and correlative approach to test this hypothesis in a mosaic of 12 island and mainland snake populations in Australia. Data collected on 597 adult and 1,084 neonate tiger snakes showed that (1) both adult and neonate mean body sizes varied strongly across populations; (2) prey diversity and size convincingly explained birth-size variations: birth size—notably, gape size—correlated with prey size; (3) neonate snout-vent length was significantly correlated with neonate gape size; and (4) neonate snout-vent length was significantly correlated with adult snout-vent length. Postnatal growth rates recorded under common-garden conditions differed across populations and were correlated with mean prey size. These data collectively suggest that (1) prey size is the main driver for the evolution of body size at birth in gape-limited predators, (2) adult size variations may reflect selective forces acting on earlier life stages, and (3) adult size variations may also reflect resource availability during ontogeny (notably, prey diversity).
Data from: The evolution of mammal body sizes: responses to Cenozoic climate change in North American mammals
Explanations for the evolution of body size in mammals have remained surprisingly elusive despite the central importance of body size in evolutionary biology. Here, we present a model which argues that the body sizes of Nearctic mammals were moulded by Cenozoic climate and vegetation changes. Following the early Eocene Climate Optimum, forests retreated and gave way to open woodland and savannah landscapes, followed later by grasslands. Many herbivores that radiated in these new landscapes underwent a switch from browsing to grazing associated with increased unguligrade cursoriality and body size, the latter driven by the energetics and constraints of cellulose digestion (fermentation). Carnivores also increased in size and digitigrade, cursorial capacity to occupy a size distribution allowing the capture of prey of the widest range of body sizes. With the emergence of larger, faster carnivores, plantigrade mammals were constrained from evolving to large body sizes and most remained smaller than 1 kg throughout the middle Cenozoic. We find no consistent support for either Cope's Rule or Bergmann's Rule in plantigrade mammals, the largest locomotor guild (n = 1186, 59% of species in the database). Some cold-specialist plantigrade mammals, such as beavers and marmots, showed dramatic increases in body mass following the Miocene Climate Optimum which may, however, be partially explained by Bergmann's rule. This study reemphasizes the necessity of considering the evolutionary history and resultant form and function of mammalian morphotypes when attempting to understand contemporary mammalian body size distributions.
Data from: New drivers of the evolution of mimetic accuracy in Batesian mimics: body size, habitat stratification and geographic zone affect accuracy of myrmecomorphic spiders
<p class="MsoBodyText">Aim: The evolution and maintenance of accurate Batesian mimicry has been explained by several hypotheses built upon relaxed selection. Such selection can be influenced by ecological factors, such as habitat type or geographic distribution, which have not been considered. I investigated whether the mimetic accuracy is influenced by habitat stratification where mimics occur (ground, low vegetation, bush, tree), their body size, and geographic distribution (temperate, subtropical, tropical).</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Location: Worldwide</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Taxon: Araneae</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Methods: I gathered data on body size, geographic area of distribution, and habitat stratification from literature on more than 400 ant-mimicking (myrmecomorphic) spider species from 18 spider families and ranked them into four accuracy levels based on morphology, from poor inaccurate mimics to very accurate ones. Then I used regression to study the effect of body size, distribution, and habitat on mimetic accuracy while controlling for phylogeny.</p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Results: Mimetic accuracy increased with spider body size but differently at four types of habitat strata. On the ground and in low vegetation majority of smaller species were inaccurate, whereas on shrubs and trees even smaller species were accurate. The accuracy increased from temperate to the tropics but differently at the four habitat strata. In the temperate zone only species occurring on bushes were accurate, but in the tropical zone even ground-living species were accurate.</p> <p>Main conclusions: Higher accuracy at lower latitudes is likely due to stronger predation pressure from visually-hunting predators. Similarly, lower accuracy in species occurring near to the ground is presumably due to predation pressure by non-visually hunting predators. Inaccurate myrmecomorphy in spiders appears to be further driven by smaller body size due to lower profitability to predators; and higher latitude due to increased occurrence of generalist predators.</p>
Fig. 7 in Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans
Fig. 7. Energy-flux model and food web stability. We tested whether the food web as preserved is functional and stable over ecological time. All shelled invertebrates (specifically ammonoids), fish, and amniote taxa discovered in the Fossil Hill Fauna are modeled as members of a food web. The member "shelled invertebrates" is basal to the food web and comprises primarily ammonoids but also halobiid bivalves and crustaceans. The member "nonshelled invertebrates plus fishes" ("fish") pools coleoid cephalopods such as squid and small- to medium-sized fish. See Methods and table S11 for food web members and their body masses, total biomasses, and energetic demands. (A) Trophic interaction matrix used for modeling energy-flux across members. Stacked bars represent the diet of predatory taxa. Filled squares within bars indicate that a taxon is taken by the predator, whereas white indicates that it is not. (B) Stability values calculated by the model for different combinations of total biomass of the two food web members "shelled invertebrates" and "fish." More negative stability values indicate a more stable food web. Error bars for blue dots represent model results assuming maximum and minimum body mass estimates for ichthyosaur taxa (table S11). Greater body masses result in less-stable food webs than smaller body masses. Stability values of extant food webs range between −10 and 0 (41). Note that we multiplied stability values by −1 for plotting. TB, total biomass (kg); red circles, the total biomass of "shelled invertebrates" equals that of "fish."
Fig. 6 in Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans
Fig. 6. The adaptive landscape of body-size evolution. (A and B) Ichthyosaurs (A) feature two early adaptive shifts toward larger skull length, whereas cetaceans (B) entered selective regimes that promoted larger skull width much later in their evolution.
Fig. 5 in Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans
Fig. 5. Exploration of the rate heterogeneity of body-size evolution. (A and B) Ichthyosaurs (A) feature the fastest rates of body evolution early in their history, whereas cetaceans (B) show a more complex pattern, with fastest rates occurring in later stages of their history. C, Cymbospondylidae; M, Merriamosauria.
Fig. 4 in Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans
Fig. 4. Body-size evolution in ichthyosaurs and cetaceans compared. Traitgram of body size, normalized such that 0 corresponds to the smallest body size in each group and 1 to the largest for ichthyosaurs (lilac; based on an early-burst model) and cetaceans (ochre; based on a Brownian motion model) (see Methods). Lilac dots indicate Cymbospondylus species from the Fossil Hill Fauna. B., Balaenoptera musculus, blue whale; C., C. youngorum sp. nov.; L., Llanocetus denticrenatus, early giant baleen whale; S., S. sikanniensis, the largest named ichthyosaur. The inset shows model-fitting results expressed as Akaike weights for five different evolutionary models from 1000 iterations. Boxes represent the interquartile ranges (IQRs), with whiskers extending 1.5 times the IQR outside the boxes. Vertical lines inside the boxes show the median. BM, Brownian motion; EB, early burst; OU, Ornstein-Uhlenbeck.
Fig. 3 in Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans
Fig. 3. Time-calibrated phylogenies and body-size illustrations of Ichthyosauria and Cetacea and the relationships of the new giant ichthyosaur C. youngorum sp. nov. Ichthyosaurs originated in the late Early Triassic shortly after the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME), survived the end-Triassic mass extinction (ETME), and went extinct in the early Late Cretaceous. Lilac stratigraphic ranges denote taxa from the Fossil Hill Fauna. Cetaceans originated in the late Paleocene after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction (CPME). See (10) for sources of phylogenies and table S6 for image credits. mya, million years ago.
Fig. 2 in Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans
Fig. 2. Skull of the holotype of C. youngorum sp. nov. LACM DI 157871. (A) Skull in right dorso-lateral view. (B) Skull sutures. (C) Skull in left ventrolateral view. (D) Skull sutures. (E) Snout in left ventrolateral view. (F) Middle part of dentary tooth row in right dorsolateral view. Note the bone of attachment. (G to K) Right humerus in proximal (G), dorsal (H), posterior (I), ventral (J), and anterior view (K). a, angular; ar, articular; at, anterior terrace; d, dentary; en, external nares; f, frontal; j, jugal; l, lacrimal; lte, lower temporal embayment; mx, maxilla; n, nasal; o, orbita; pa, parietal; pf, parietal foramen; pmx, premaxilla; po, postorbital; pra, prearticular; prf, prefrontal; q, quadrate; qj, quadratojugal; sa, surangular; sc, scleral ring; sq, squamosal; st, supratemporal; uto, upper temporal opening; v, cervical vertebra.
Fig. 1 in Early giant reveals faster evolution of large body size in ichthyosaurs than in cetaceans
Fig. 1. Conceptual approach of our integrated study. We combine traditional paleontology with computational trait evolution and energy-flux modeling to study macroevolutionary patterns of body size evolution in marine amniotes.
Novel genomic insights into body size evolution in cetaceans and a resolution of Peto's Paradox
<p>Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) have undergone a radical transformation from the typical terrestrial mammalian body plan to a streamlined one while exhibited dramatic inter-specific size ranges. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the diversifying evolution of cetacean body size are largely unknown. Here, by using genome and phenotypic data from 22 cetaceans, we seek to investigate the genome-wide gene-phenotype correlation and to explore the genetic basis under the high diversity of body size in cetaceans. Results of the functional enrichment showed that body size-related genes in cetaceans were enriched in pathways associated with immunity, cell growth, and metabolism, suggesting their potential roles in the diversifying evolution of body size in cetaceans. A series of genes was also found coevolution with body size that are mainly involved in immune surveillance, tumor suppression function, and development of 'cheater' tumors. This in turn suggests that the genes play a role in tumor control and thus resolve Peto's paradox, a finding that the expansion in body size and thereby cell number does not correlate with increases in cancer incidence in larger whales. The present study could provide novel insights into the evolution of great body size variation in cetaceans.</p>
Dataset for: Body size and sexual selection shaped the evolution of parrot calls
<p><span>Morphology, habitat and various selective pressures (e.g., social and sexual selection) can influence the evolution of acoustic signals, but the relative importance of their effects is not well understood. The order Psittaciformes (parrots, <em>sensu lato</em>) is a large clade of very vocal and often gregarious species for which large-scale comparative studies of vocalizations are lacking. We measured acoustic traits (duration, sound frequency, frequency bandwidth and sound entropy) of the predominant call type for >200 parrot species to test: (1) for associations with body size; (2) the acoustic adaptation hypothesis (predicting differences between forest and open-habitat species); (3) the social complexity hypothesis (predicting more complex calls in gregarious species); and (4) influences of sexual selection (predicting correlated evolution with colour ornamentation). Larger species had on average longer calls, lower sound frequency and wider frequency bandwidth. These associations with body size are all predicted by physical principles of sound production. We found no evidence for the acoustic adaptation and social complexity hypotheses, but perhaps social complexity is associated with vocal traits not studied here, such as call repertoire sizes. More sexually dichromatic species had on average simpler calls (shorter, with lower entropy and narrower frequency bandwidth) indicating an influence of sexual selection, namely an evolutionary negative correlation between colour ornamentation and elaborate acoustic signals, as predicted by the transference hypothesis. Our study is the first large-scale attempt at understanding acoustic diversity across the Psittaciformes, and indicates that body size and sexual selection influenced the evolution of species differences in vocal signals.</span></p>
Figure 23 in The Pristimantis trachyblepharis species group, a clade of miniaturized frogs: description of four new species and insights into the evolution of body size in the genus
Figure 23. Colour variation in life individuals of Pristimantis ventristellatus in ventral view. A, QCAZ 69245 (adult male, SVL 16.46 mm); B, QCAZ 69263 (adult female, SVL 18.62 mm); C, QCAZ 69273 (adult male, SVL 15.41 mm); D, QCAZ 69318 (adult female, SVL 22.02 mm); E, QCAZ 69365 (adult female, SVL 20.85 mm); F, QCAZ 69368 (adult male, SVL 15.16 mm).
Figure 24 in The Pristimantis trachyblepharis species group, a clade of miniaturized frogs: description of four new species and insights into the evolution of body size in the genus
Figure 24. Colour variation in preserved individuals of Pristimantis ventristellatus: 1, dorsal views; 2, ventral views. A, QCAZ 69264 (adult female, SVL 19.82 mm); B, QCAZ 69357 (adult female, SVL 20.6 mm); C, QCAZ 69318 (adult female, SVL 22.02 mm); D, QCAZ 69319 (adult female, SVL 18.62 mm); E, QCAZ 69320 (adult male, SVL 16.69 mm); F, QCAZ 69368 (adult male, SVL 15.16 mm); G, QCAZ 69265 (subadult male, SVL 14.51 mm).
Figure 22 in The Pristimantis trachyblepharis species group, a clade of miniaturized frogs: description of four new species and insights into the evolution of body size in the genus
Figure 22. Colour variation in life individuals of Pristimantis ventristellatus in dorsolateral view. A, QCAZ 69245 (adult male, SVL 16.46 mm); B, QCAZ 69263 (adult female, SVL 18.62 mm); C, QCAZ 69273 (adult male, SVL 15.41 mm); D, QCAZ 69319 (adult female, SVL 18.62 mm); E, QCAZ 69365 (adult female, SVL 20.85 mm); F, QCAZ 69368 (adult male, SVL 15.16 mm).
Figure 21 in The Pristimantis trachyblepharis species group, a clade of miniaturized frogs: description of four new species and insights into the evolution of body size in the genus
Figure 21. Photographs of the holotype of Pristimantis ventristellatus (QCAZ 69240; adult male, SVL 15.67 mm) in preservative. A, dorsal view; B, ventral view; C, ventral view of the right hand; D, ventral view of the right foot.
Figure 17 in The Pristimantis trachyblepharis species group, a clade of miniaturized frogs: description of four new species and insights into the evolution of body size in the genus
Figure 17. Colour variation in life individuals of Pristimantis ujucami in dorsolateral view. A, QCAZ 49031 (subadult female, SVL 16.19 mm); B, QCAZ 57002 (adult male, SVL 14.39 mm); C, QCAZ 57010 (subadult female, 18.95 mm); D, QCAZ 57003 (adult male, SVL 15.47 mm); E, QCAZ 57004 (subadult female, SVL 18.91 mm); F, QCAZ 57646 (adult male, SVL 14.2 mm); G, QCAZ 60212 (adult female, SVL 22.33 mm); H, QCAZ 58865 (adult female, SVL 20.62 mm); I, QCAZ 60214 (adult female, SVL 23.76 mm); J, QCAZ 60194 (adult female, SVL 22.43 mm); K, QCAZ 60196 (adult female, SVL 20.45 mm); L, QCAZ 58874 (subadult female, SVL 16.74 mm).
Figure 16 in The Pristimantis trachyblepharis species group, a clade of miniaturized frogs: description of four new species and insights into the evolution of body size in the genus
Figure 16. Photographs of the holotype of Pristimantis ujucami (QCAZ 49030; adult female, SVL 21.16 mm) in preservative. A, dorsal view; B, ventral view; C, ventral view of the left hand; D, ventral view of the right foot.
Figure 19 in The Pristimantis trachyblepharis species group, a clade of miniaturized frogs: description of four new species and insights into the evolution of body size in the genus
Figure 19. Colour variation in preserved individuals of Pristimantis ujucami: 1, dorsal views; 2, ventral views. A, QCAZ 49026 (adult female, SVL 22.62 mm); B, QCAZ 60194 (adult female, SVL 22.43 mm); C, QCAZ 60212 (adult female, SVL 22.33 mm); D, QCAZ 60214 (adult female, SVL 23.76 mm); E, QCAZ 58874 (subadult female, SVL 16.74 mm); F, QCAZ 60206 (subadult female, SVL 16.61 mm); G, QCAZ 57010 (subadult female, SVL 18.95 mm); H, QCAZ 57003 (adult male, SVL 15.47 mm); I, QCAZ 60621 (adult male, SVL 16.42 mm); J, QCAZ 57002 (adult male, 14.39 mm).
Figure 14 in The Pristimantis trachyblepharis species group, a clade of miniaturized frogs: description of four new species and insights into the evolution of body size in the genus
Figure 14. Colour variation in preserved individuals of Pristimantis pramukae: 1, dorsal views; 2, ventral views. A, QCAZ 72604 (adult female, SVL 18.58 mm); B, QCAZ 72606 (adult female, SVL 21.03 mm); C, QCAZ 72591 (adult female, SVL 19.91 mm); D, QCAZ 72620 (adult female, SVL 19.53 mm); E, QCAZ 72611 (adult male, SVL 15.13 mm); F, QCAZ 68580 (adult male, SVL 15 mm); G, QCAZ 68574 (subadult male, SVL 12.77 mm); H, QCAZ 72588 (juvenile, SVL 9.59 mm).
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