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420 results for “Body size data”
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: Microhabitat and body size effects on heat tolerance: implications for responses to climate change (army ants: Formicidae, Ecitoninae)
1. Models that predict organismal and population responses to climate change may be improved by considering ecological factors that affect species thermal tolerance. Species differences in microhabitat use can expose animals to diverse thermal selective environments at a given site and may cause sympatric species to evolve different thermal tolerances. 2. We tested the hypothesis that species differences in body size and microhabitat use (above- vs. below-ground activity) would correspond to differences in thermal tolerance (maximum critical temperatures: CTmax). Thermal buffering effects of soil can reduce exposure to extreme high temperatures for below-ground active species. We predicted larger-bodied individuals and species would have higher CTmax and that species mean CTmax would covary positively with degree of above-ground activity. We used Neotropical army ants (Formicidae: Ecitoninae) as models. Army ants vary in microhabitat use from largely subterranean to largely above-ground active species and are highly size polymorphic. 3. We collected data on above- and below-ground temperatures in habitats used by army ants to test for microhabitat temperature differences, and we conducted CTmax assays for army ant species with varying degrees of surface activity and with different body sizes within and between species. We then tested whether microhabitat use was associated with species differences in CTmax and whether microhabitat was a better predictor of CTmax than body size for species that overlapped in size. 4. Microhabitat use was a highly significant predictor of species' upper thermal tolerance limits, both for raw data and after accounting for the effects of phylogeny. Below-ground species were more thermally sensitive, with lower maximum critical temperatures (CTmax). The smallest workers within each species were the least heat tolerant, but the magnitude of CTmax change with body size was greater in below-ground species. Species-typical microhabitat was a stronger predictor of CTmax than body size for species that overlapped in size. Compared to the soil surface, 10-cm subsoil was a significantly moderated thermal environment for below-ground army ants, while maximum surface raid temperatures sometimes exceeded CTmax for the most thermally sensitive army ant castes. 5. We conclude sympatric species differences in thermal physiology correspond to microhabitat use. These patterns should be accounted for in models of species and community responses to thermal variation and climate change.
Data from: Variation in age, body size, and reproductive traits among urban and rural amphibian populations
Although amphibians use human-created habitats in urban landscapes, few studies have investigated the quality of these habitats. To assess habitat quality of stormwater management ponds and adjacent urban uplands forwood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) and American toads (Anaxyrus americanus), we compared life history characteristics between populations breeding across an urbanization gradient. Specifically, we compared body size, ages of breeding adults, and female reproductive investment among urban, suburban, and rural populations in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. Although there was variation in age at maturity among populations, ages of breeding adults did not differ among urban, suburban, and rural areas. Maternal body size strongly influenced reproductive investment in both species, but relationships did not vary among urban, suburban, and rural populations. Adult wood frogs and American toads from more urbanized landscapes were significantly smaller at age than conspecifics from rural landscapes; the magnitude of differences was similar across adult age classes. Our results suggest that in the urban and rural landscapes that we studied, adult habitats are similar in quality, but either larval or juvenile habitats may be of lower quality in urban areas.
Data for: Interplay of abiotic conditions, density, and body size in shaping demography in a high-elevation toad population
<p>This dataset is used to estimate vital rates of a common toad (<em>Bufo bufo</em>) alpine population, and how they are associated with either abiotic (environmental conditions), biotic (in our case population size), and individual factors (body size). We have individual capture histories for the period 1993-2020 for 1615 males and 933 females, as well as body size measurements taken during capture events. For more info about the study system see: https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.240/</p> <p>We run a capture-mark-recapture model coupled with a growth model, the latter to obtain information on body size for the years when the individuals were not captured. Aside from sex-specific survival, we estimate female breeding probability, since they show intermittent breeding. We include as covariates for these vital rates the length of the active season, the temperature at emergence from hibernation, population size, and body size. </p> <p>We obtained climatic data for the period 1980–2020 from the DaymetCH dataset (data obtained from Bioclimatic maps of Switzerland © WSL, based on station data from the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, and elaborated by the Land Change Science group, WSL).</p> <p>The README file further describes each uploaded file</p>
Data from: Species interactions, environmental gradients and body size shape population niche width
<p>Competition for shared resources is commonly assumed to restrict population-level niche width of coexisting species. However, the identity and abundance of coexisting species, the prevailing environmental conditions, and the individual body size may shape the effects of interspecific interactions on species' niche width.</p> <p>Here we study the effects of inter- and intraspecific interactions, lake area and altitude, and fish body size on the trophic niche width and resource use of a generalist predator, the littoral-dwelling large, sparsely-rakered morph of European whitefish (<i>Coregonus lavaretus</i>; hereafter LSR whitefish). We use stable isotope, diet and survey fishing data from 14 subarctic lakes along an environmental gradient in northern Norway.</p> <p>The isotopic niche width of LSR whitefish showed a humped-shaped relationship with increasing relative abundance of sympatric competitors, suggesting widest population niche at intermediate intensity of interspecific interactions. The isotopic niche width of LSR whitefish tended to decrease with increasing altitude, suggesting reduced niche in colder, less productive lakes.</p> <p>LSR whitefish typically shifted to a higher trophic position and increased reliance on littoral food resources with increasing body size, although between-lake differences in ontogenetic niche shifts were evident. In most lakes, LSR whitefish relied less on littoral food resources than coexisting fishes and the niche overlap between sympatric competitors was most evident among relatively large individuals (>250 mm). Individual niche variation was highest among >200 mm long LSR whitefish, which likely have escaped the predation window of sympatric predators.</p> <p>We demonstrate that intermediate intensity of interspecific interactions may broaden species' niche width, whereas strong competition for limited resources and high predation risk may suppress niche width in less productive environments. Acknowledging potential humped-shaped relationships between population niche width and interspecific interactions can help us understand species' responses to environmental disturbance (e.g., climate change and species invasions) as well as the driving forces of niche specialization.</p>
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>
Data from 'Convergent patterns of body size variation in distinct parasite taxa with convergent life cycles'
<p><b>Aim:</b> Interspecific variation among metazoans often follows a latitudinal pattern, with species at higher latitudes being larger-bodied than related species from lower latitudes (Bergmann's rule). For parasitic species, body sizes within any higher taxon often correlate with the body sizes of their hosts (Harrison's rule). Whether temperature-driven latitudinal effects or host-driven resource constraints act independently or additively to shape interspecific variation in parasite body sizes remains unknown. We use a comparative approach to test the effects of latitude and host body size on parasite body sizes in two taxa of parasitic worms showing convergent life cycles.</p> <p><b>Location:</b> Global.</p> <p><b>Time period:</b> Contemporary.</p> <p><b>Major taxa studied:</b> Hairworms (Nematomorpha) and mermithids (Nematoda) parasitic in arthropods.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> With 223 records for mermithids and 258 for nematomorphs worldwide, we used linear mixed effects models to test the effects of latitude and host body size on parasite length, intraspecific length variation, parasite egg diameter, and variation in egg diameter. Further, we modelled parasite length with local mean annual temperature as predictor instead of latitude, as a direct test of underlying mechanisms. All models took into account host and parasite taxonomic structure within the datasets.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> For both taxa, host body size was clearly the main determinant of parasite body length, with neither latitude nor local temperature (annual mean or range) having an effect. No predictor affected intraspecific length variation, whereas egg diameter was positively associated with parasite length and variation in egg diameter was negatively associated with latitude.</p> <p><b>Main conclusions:</b> Our results support a strong role for host traits in shaping the evolution of parasite body sizes (Harrison's rule), but no role for latitude (Bergmann's rule), even though these parasites infect ectothermic hosts.<span> At a mechanistic level, the evolutionary driving force of external temperature on parasite physiology seems to be eclipsed by the availability of resources from the host.</span></p>
Data from: Distinct body-size responses to warming climate in three rodent species
<p><span>In mammals, body-size responses to warming climates are diverse, and the mechanisms underlying these</span><span> different</span><span>responses have been little investigated. Using temporal and spatial datasets of three rodent species distributed across different climatic zones in China, we investigated temporal and spatial trends of body size (length and mass), identified the critical drivers of these trends, and inferred the potential causes underlying the distinct body-size responses to the critical drivers. We found that body mass of all species remained stable over time and across space. Body length, however, increased in one species over time and in two species across space. Generally, body-length variation was predicted best by minimum ambient temperature. Moreover, in two species, body length changed linearly with temperature differences between ancestral and colonisation areas. These distinct temperature</span><span>–</span><span>length patterns may jointly be caused by species-specific temperature sensitivities and experienced magnitudes of warming. We hypothesise that species or populations distributed across distinct temperature gradients evolved different intrinsic temperature sensitivities, which affect how their body sizes respond to warming climates. Our results suggest that size trends associated with climate change should be explored at higher temporal and spatial resolutions and include clades of species with similar distributions.</span></p>
Data from: Ecological adaptation and birdsong: how body and bill sizes affect passerine sound frequencies
<p>The avian bill is finely adjusted to foraging ecology and, as part of the vocal tract, it may also affect sexual signals such as songs. Acoustic theory predicts that larger bills lower the resonant frequency of vocal tracts, allowing larger-billed species to emphasize lower sound frequencies. Theory also predicts that larger-billed species can change bill gape so as to sing over a wider frequency bandwidth. We tested these associations between bill size and sound frequencies of song across ca. 1000 taxonomically-diverse passerines. Phylogenetically informed analyses indicated that both bill and body sizes are negatively related to the sound frequency of songs, with additive effects of similar strength. Analyses of reduced datasets, to decrease bill-body size associations, indicated that the effect of bill size it is not an artefact of its covariation with body size. Sound frequency bandwidth was only related to body size but not bill size, perhaps because large bills may allow greater modulation of frequency but also hinder fast bill movement. Since the bill has a major role explaining species differences in birdsong sound frequency, it can be a magic trait that promotes reproductive isolation as a consequence of ecological divergence.</p>
Data from: Heritability of body size in the polar bears of Western Hudson Bay
Among polar bears (Ursus maritimus), fitness is dependent on body size through males' abilities to win mates, females' abilities to provide for their young, and all bears' abilities to survive increasingly longer fasting periods caused by climate change. In the Western Hudson Bay subpopulation (near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada), polar bears have declined in body size and condition, but nothing is known about the genetic underpinnings of body size variation, which may be subject to natural selection. Here, we combine a 4449-individual pedigree and an array of 5433 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to provide the first quantitative genetics study of polar bears. We used animal models to estimate heritability (h2) among polar bears handled between 1966 and 2011, obtaining h2 estimates of 0.34-0.48 for strictly skeletal traits and 0.18 for axillary girth (which is also dependent on fatness). We genotyped 859 individuals with the SNP array to test for marker-trait association and combined p-values over genetic pathways using gene-set analysis. Variation in all traits appeared to be polygenic, but we detected one region of moderately large effect size in body length near a putative noncoding RNA in an unannotated region of the genome. Gene-set analysis suggested that variation in body length was associated with genes in the regulatory cascade of cyclin expression, which has previously been associated with body size in mice. A greater understanding of the genetic architecture of body size variation will be valuable in understanding the potential for adaptation in polar bear populations challenged by climate change.
Distribution. SW Brazil, known only from two sites, the type locality in Rondonia and Juruena (Mato Grosso State)Descriptive notes Head-body ¢.230 mm, tail ¢.80 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Rondon's Tuco-tuco is medium-sized. Dorsal hairs are pale at bases and sepia at tips. Head and venterare slightly rufous, and tail is uniform brown. Skull is robust and depressed. Inter-maxillaries are also robust, with lateral protruding expansion; maxillaries are narrow; and mandible is strong and wide. Supraorbital process protrudes, and traverse occipital-temporal crest is straight. Bullae are inflated. in Ctenomyidae
Distribution. SW Brazil, known only from two sites, the type locality in Rondonia and Juruena (Mato Grosso State)Descriptive notes Head-body ¢.230 mm, tail ¢.80 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Rondon's Tuco-tuco is medium-sized. Dorsal hairs are pale at bases and sepia at tips. Head and venterare slightly rufous, and tail is uniform brown. Skull is robust and depressed. Inter-maxillaries are also robust, with lateral protruding expansion; maxillaries are narrow; and mandible is strong and wide. Supraorbital process protrudes, and traverse occipital-temporal crest is straight. Bullae are inflated.
Data from: Population variation reveals independent selection towards small body size in Chinese Debao pony
Body size, one of the most important quantitative traits under evolutionary scrutiny, varies considerably among species and among populations within species. Revealing the genetic basis underlying this variation is very important, particularly in humans where there is a close relationship with diseases and in domestic animals as the selective patterns are associated with improvements in production traits. The Debao pony is a horse breed with small body size that is unique to China; however, it is unknown whether the size-related candidate genes identified in Western breeds also account for the small body size of the Debao pony. Here, we compared individual horses from the Debao population with other two Chinese horse populations using SNPs identified with the Equine SNP 65 Bead Chip. The previously reported size-related candidate gene HMGA2 showed a significant signature for selection, consistent with its role observed in human populations. More interestingly, we found a candidate gene TBX3, which had not been observed in previous studies on horse body size that displayed the highest differentiation and most significant association, and thus likely is the dominating factor for the small stature of the Debao pony. Further comparison between the Debao pony and other breeds of horses from around the world demonstrated that TBX3 was selected independently in the Debao pony, suggesting that there were multiple origins of small stature in the horse.
The first comprehensive revision of all the species attributed to Melomys led J. I. Menzies in 1996 to resurrect the genus Paramelomys and to redefine its morphologicallimits and species content. Menzies created P. gressitti as a new species belonging to a group displaying morphological similarities and including also P. lorentzii and P. moncktoni. Monotypic Distribution. E New Guinea. Descriptive notes. Head-body 135-162 mm, hindfoot 30-34 mm; no specific data are available for body weight. Gressitt's Mosaic-tailed Rat is a medium-sized Paramelomys with a soft, thick and woolly pelage, a long narrow foot, and a tail with three hairs per scale. It exhibits a medium-sepia dorsal pelage and a gray-buff ventral one. Tail is slightly shorter (99%) than head-body length. The skull has a narrow zygomatic plate. Habitat. Moist tropical mountain forest between 2300 m and 2400 m. Food and Feeding. No information. Breeding. No information. Activity patterns. Gressitt's Mosaic-tailed Rat is terrestrial. Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information. Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List owing to its small geographic range (less than 3500 km?*) and the destruction ofits habitat by mining and logging activities. The major threat to Gressitt's Mosaic-tailed Rat is ongoing habitat degradation caused by nearby human populations; habitat on Mount Kandy has been destroyed by gold-miners and wood-cutters. Bibliography. Menzies (1996). in Muridae
The first comprehensive revision of all the species attributed to Melomys led J. I. Menzies in 1996 to resurrect the genus Paramelomys and to redefine its morphologicallimits and species content. Menzies created P. gressitti as a new species belonging to a group displaying morphological similarities and including also P. lorentzii and P. moncktoni. Monotypic Distribution. E New Guinea. Descriptive notes. Head-body 135-162 mm, hindfoot 30-34 mm; no specific data are available for body weight. Gressitt's Mosaic-tailed Rat is a medium-sized Paramelomys with a soft, thick and woolly pelage, a long narrow foot, and a tail with three hairs per scale. It exhibits a medium-sepia dorsal pelage and a gray-buff ventral one. Tail is slightly shorter (99%) than head-body length. The skull has a narrow zygomatic plate. Habitat. Moist tropical mountain forest between 2300 m and 2400 m. Food and Feeding. No information. Breeding. No information. Activity patterns. Gressitt's Mosaic-tailed Rat is terrestrial. Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information. Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List owing to its small geographic range (less than 3500 km?*) and the destruction ofits habitat by mining and logging activities. The major threat to Gressitt's Mosaic-tailed Rat is ongoing habitat degradation caused by nearby human populations; habitat on Mount Kandy has been destroyed by gold-miners and wood-cutters. Bibliography. Menzies (1996).
Data from: Trophic niches of Collembola communities change with elevation but also with body size and life form
<p>Climate change increases habitat loss of endemic tree species and drives forest conversion in mountainous forests. Elevational gradients provide the opportunity to predict possible consequences of such changes. While species compositions of various taxa have been investigated along elevational gradients, data on trophic changes in soil-dwelling organisms is scarce. Here, we analyze trophic changes of the Collembola community along the northern slope of Changbai Mountain, China. We sampled seven elevations (800-1700 m asl) with 150 m elevational difference along a primary forest gradient. At eight subplots per elevation, we categorized Collembola species into life forms, measured individual body lengths and bulk stable isotopes. Mean and minimum <span>Δ<sup>15</sup>N and mean Δ<sup>13</sup>C increased with increasing elevation, while the range of Δ<sup>15</sup>N decreased. Maximum and minimum of Δ<sup>13</sup>C differed between elevations but showed no linear response. Isotopic uniqueness increased with elevation. Δ<sup>15</sup>N values of Collembola species occurring across all elevations increased with elevation. Changes in Δ<sup>15</sup>N with elevation were most pronounced in hemiedaphic species. Δ<sup>15</sup>N </span>values <span>increased with decreasing body size in hemiedaphic and euedaphic species. </span>Δ<sup>13</sup>C increased strongest with elevation in euedaphic species. <span>Overall, the</span> results suggest that<span> Collembola species functioning as primary decomposers shift towards functioning as secondary decomposers at higher elevations. Further</span>, access to alternative food resources may depend on Collembola life form and body size, this relationship, however, likely varies between ecosystems. Collembola functioning as secondary decomposers in coniferous forests may function as primary decomposers under climate driven forest conversion as species boundaries of tree species of lower elevations expand.</p>
Data from: Body size evolution in otters distinguished from terrestrial mustelids
<p>Some taxa of mammals live in water, all of which evolved from land-dwelling ancestors. In the family Mustelidae (Mammalia: Carnivora), most species live on land, while otters, comprising the subfamily Lutrinae, inhabit aquatic environments, which include the almost exclusively aquatic sea otters (<em>Enhydra lutris</em>). Thus, the transition from a terrestrial to an aquatic lifestyle has occurred within this family. Despite potentially different selection pressures on body size in aquatic and terrestrial habitats, no divergence in the evolutionary pattern of body size between otters and other mustelids has previously been shown using models of trait evolution on a phylogeny. We applied models that explicitly incorporated lineage-specific directional selection to the evolution of body mass in living mustelids. Using a simulation-based likelihood and approximate Bayesian computation approach, we demonstrated lineage-specific directional selection for larger body mass in otters, which is distinct from other mustelids. There was no evidence of a difference between sea otters and other otters in the strength of directional selection for larger body mass. Additionally, our analyses supported no difference in the rate at which body mass evolves in both directions between otters and other mustelids. These findings suggest that the evolution of body mass in otters is associated with selective advantages of larger size rather than the relaxation of constraints on body size in aquatic habitats, like other aquatic mammals such as sirenians, cetaceans, and pinnipeds.</p>
Data on "The relationship between body size and diet breadth in non-web building spiders"
<p>The dataset contains four sheets: 1) niche width, 2) mean prey size, 3) range, max, min prey size, and 4) SD prey size. </p> <p>In all sheets, the "species" stands for spider species. The "Body_size" stands for body length of spiders (mm). The "ph1-ph20" stands for the codes to build phylogenetic trees of the spider species. </p> <p>In the sheet <em>niche width</em>, the "richness_est", "shannon_est", and "simpson_est" stand for the estimated measures of diet breadth, namely: diet richness, Shannon index of diversity, and Simpson index of equitability.</p> <p>In the sheet <em>mean prey size</em>, the "Mean" stands for the mean body length of prey (mm) utilized by the spider species.</p> <p>In the sheet <em>range, max, min prey size</em>, the "Range", "Max", and "Min" stand for the range of prey length, maximum prey length, and minimum prey length (mm) utilized by the spider species. </p> <p>In the sheet <em>SD prey size</em>, the "SD" stands for the standard deviation of prey length utilized by the spider species. </p>
Data from: Genetic and environmental effects on the scaling of metabolic rate with body size
Metabolic rate (MR) often scales with body mass (BM) following a power function of the form MR = aBMb, where b is the allometric exponent (i.e. slope on a log-log scale). The variational properties of b have been debated, but very few studies have tested for genetic variance in b, and none have tested for a genotype-by-environment (GxE) interaction in b. Consequently, the short-term evolutionary potentials of both b and its phenotypic plasticity remain unknown. Using 10 clones of a population of Daphnia magna, we estimated the genetic variance in b and assessed whether a GxE interaction affected b. We measured metabolic rate on juveniles of different sizes reared and measured at three temperatures (17, 22 and 28&[deg]C). Overall, b decreased with increasing temperature. We found no evidence of genetic variance in b at any temperature, and thus no GxE interaction in b. However, we found a significant GxE interaction in size-specific metabolic rate. Using simulations, we show how this GxE interaction can generate genetic variation in the ontogenetic allometric slopes of animals experiencing directional changes in temperature during growth. This suggests that b can evolve despite having limited genetic variation at constant temperatures.
Data from: The imprint of Cenozoic migrations and evolutionary history on the biogeographic gradient of body size in New World mammals
Ecology, evolution and historical events all contribute to biogeographic patterns, but studies integrating them are scarce. Here we focus on how biotic exchanges of mammals during the Late Cenozoic have contributed to current geographic body size patterns. We explore differences in the environmental correlates and phylogenetic patterning of body size between the groups of mammals participating and not participating in past biotic exchanges. Both the association of body size with environmental predictors and its phylogenetic signal were stronger for groups that immigrated into North or South America than for indigenous groups. This pattern, which held when extinct clades were included in the analyses, can be interpreted based on the length of time that clades have had to diversify and occupy niche space. Moreover, we identify a role for historical events such as Cenozoic migrations on configuring contemporary mammal body size patterns and illustrate where these influences have been strongest for New World mammals.
Data from: Body size, developmental instability and climate change
Development is often temperature-dependent. We hypothesized smaller size and larger asymmetry with increasing temperatures. However, we also predicted associations with asymmetry to differ among traits that differ in their degree of functional importance (especially the functional wings in migratory birds were predicted to be more canalized), timing of development (skeletal (femur, tarsus and humerus) vs feather (wing and tail traits). We analyzed a large dataset of which we included species with at least 20 specimens resulting in 5533 asymmetry values in 1593 individuals from 66 species. There was a consistent significant decrease in size with temperature across all traits. Fluctuating asymmetry for wings and femur was on average lower, suggesting higher canalization, and it decreased with migration distance, while that was not the case for the other traits. Fluctuating asymmetry increased with increasing temperature for wings, but not for the other characters, where the different responses of different characters to temperature was significant. Since there was no significant three-way interaction between temperature, migration distance and character, the asymmetry-temperature response was similar in migratory and resident species. These findings imply that climate warming reduces size of all traits and decreases developmental instability of wings in birds.
Data from: Eco-energetic consequences of evolutionary shifts in body size (after integrating the Corrigendum)
<p>Size imposes physiological and ecological constraints upon all organisms. Theory abounds on how energy flux covaries with body size, yet causal links are often elusive. As a more direct way to assess the role of size, we used artificial selection to evolve the phytoplankton species Dunaliella tertiolecta towards smaller and larger body sizes. Within 100 generations (c. 1 year), we generated a fourfold difference in cell volume among selected lineages. Large-selected populations produced four times the energy than small-selected populations of equivalent total biovolume, but at the cost of much higher volume-specific respiration. These differences in energy utilisation between large (more productive) and small (more energy-efficient) individuals were used to successfully predict ecological performance (r and K) across novel resource regimes. We show that body size determines the performance of a species by mediating its net energy flux, with worrying implications for current trends in size reduction and for global carbon cycles.</p>
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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
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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.