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41 results for “eye size”
Sexually dimorphic eye-size in Dragonfishes, a response to a bioluminescent signaling gap
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Data from: More than meets the eye: predator-induced pupil size plasticity in a teleost fish
<p>1. Most animals are visually oriented, and their eyes provide their "window to the world". Eye size correlates positively with visual performance, because larger eyes can house larger pupils that increase photon catch and contrast discrimination, particularly under dim light, which have positive effects on behaviours that enhance fitness, including predator avoidance and foraging.</p> <p>2. Recent studies have linked predation risk to selection for larger eyes and pupils, and such changes should be of importance for the majority of teleost fishes as they have a pupil that is fixed in size (eyes lack a pupillary sphincter muscle) and, hence, do not respond to changes in light conditions.</p> <p>3. Here, we quantify eye and pupil size of individual crucian carp, a common freshwater fish, following controlled manipulations of perceived predation risk (presence/absence). We also tested if crucian carp responded to increased predation risk by shifts in diel activity patterns.</p> <p>4. We found that crucian carp show phenotypic plasticity with regards to pupil size, but not eye size, as pupil size increased when exposed to predators (pike). Predator-exposed crucian carp also shifted from diurnal to nocturnal activity. Using a modelling exercise, we moreover show that the plastically enlarged pupils significantly increase visual range, especially for small objects under dim light conditions.</p> <p>5. Overall, our results provide compelling evidence for predator-induced pupil enlargement resulting in enhanced visual capabilities in a teleost fish. Pupil-size plasticity in combination with the observed shift towards nocturnal activity may allow for efficient foraging also under dark conditions when predation risk from diurnal and visually oriented predators is reduced. The data highlight the powerful role of predation risk for eye development and evolution. 03-Jul-2020</p>
Sex-specific evolution of brain size, brain structure, and covariation with eye size in Trinidadian killifish
<p>Links between contrasting ecological conditions and evolutionary shifts in neurosensory components such as brain and eye size are accumulating. Whether selection operates differently on these traits between sexes is unclear. Trinidadian killifish (<em>Anablepsoides hartii</em>) are located in sites with and without predators. Male killifish from sites without predators have evolved larger brains and eyes than males from sites with predators. These differences in brain size are present early in life but disappear in adult size-classes. Here, we evaluated female brain growth allometries to determine if females exhibit similar size-specific brain size differences between sites that differ in predation intensity. We also quantified brain size, structure, and eye size to determine if these structures coevolve in a sex-specific manner. We found that female brain growth allometries did not differ across populations. Yet, female killifish from sites without predators exhibited a larger cerebellum, optic tectum, and dorsal medulla early in life (prior to maturation), but such differences disappeared in larger size-classes. Females from sites with predators exhibit similar patterns in brain growth as males in those sites, therefore shifts in brain size and structure are driven by differences between sexes in sites without predators. We also found evidence for covariation between brain and eye size in both sexes despite different levels of variation in both structures, suggesting that these structures may covary to fluctuating degrees in sex-specific ways. We conclude that differential investment in brain tissue in sites without predators may be linked to varying reproductive and cognitive demands across the sexes.</p>
Increased eye size is favoured in Trinidadian killifish experimentally transplanted into low light, high competition environments
<p>Intraspecific <span>variation in vertebrate eye size is well known. Ecological factors such as light availability are often correlated with shifts in relative eye size. However, experimental tests of selection on eye size are lacking. Trinidadian killifish (<em>Anablepsoides hartii</em>) are found in sites that differ in predation intensity. Sites that lack predators are characterized by lower light, high killifish densities, low resource availability, and intense competition for food. We previously found that killifish in sites that lack predators have evolved a larger relative eye size than fish from sites with predators. Here we used transplant experiments to test how selection operates on eye size when fish that are adapted to sites with predators are translocated into sites where predators are absent. We observed a significant 'population x relative eye size' interaction; the relationship between relative eye size and a proxy for fitness (rates of individual growth) was positive in the transplanted fish. The trend was opposite for resident fish. Such results provide experimental support that larger eyes enhance fitness and are favoured in environments characterized by low light and high competition.</span></p>
Data from: More than meets the eye: predator-induced pupil size plasticity in a teleost fish
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Sex-specific evolution of brain size, brain structure, and covariation with eye size in Trinidadian killifish
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Plasticity in Daphnia eye size is determined by intra-generational environmental conditions
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Eye size across avian lineages covaries with participation in a specialized foraging behavior
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Data from: The evolution of eye size in response to increased fish predation in Daphnia
Variation in eye size is ubiquitous across taxa. Increased eye size is correlated with improved vision and increased fitness via shifts in behavior. Tests of the drivers of eye size evolution have focused on macroevolutionary studies evaluating the importance of light availability. Predator-induced mortality has recently been identified as a potential driver of eye size variation. Here we tested the influence of increased predation by the fish predator, the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) on eye size evolution in waterfleas (Daphnia ambigua) from lakes in Connecticut. We quantified the relative eye size of Daphnia from lakes with and without alewife using wild-caught and third generation laboratory reared specimens. This includes comparisons between lakes where alewife are present seasonally (anadromous) or permanently (landlocked). Wild-caught specimens did not differ in eye size across all lakes. However, third generation lab reared Daphnia from lakes with alewife, irrespective of the form of alewife predation, exhibited significantly larger eyes than Daphnia from lakes without alewife. This genetically based increase in eye size may enhance the ability of Daphnia to detect predators. Alternatively, such shifts in eye size may be an indirect response to Daphnia aggregating at the bottom of lakes. To test these mechanisms, we collected Daphnia as a function of depth and found that eye size differed in Daphnia found at the surface versus the bottom of the water column between anadromous alewife and no alewife lakes. However, we found no evidence of Daphnia aggregating at the bottom of lakes. Such results indicate that the evolution of a larger eye may be explained by a connection between eyes and enhanced survival. We discuss the cause of the lack of concordance in eye size variation between our phenotypic and genetic specimens and the ultimate drivers of eye size.
Eye size and investment in frogs and toads correlate with adult habitat, activity pattern and breeding ecology
<p></p><p>Frogs and toads (Amphibia: Anura) display diverse ecologies and behaviours, which are often correlated with visual capacity in other vertebrates. Additionally, anurans exhibit a broad range of relative eye sizes, which have not previously been linked to ecological factors in this group. We measured relative investment in eye size and corneal size for 220 species of anurans representing all 55 currently recognized families and tested whether they were correlated with six natural history traits hypothesized to be associated with the evolution of eye size. Anuran eye size was significantly correlated with habitat, with notable decreases in eye investment among fossorial, subfossorial and aquatic species. Relative eye size was also associated with mating habitat and activity pattern. Compared to other vertebrates, anurans have relatively large eyes for their body size, indicating that vision is probably of high importance. Our study reveals the role that ecology and behaviour may have played in the evolution of anuran visual systems and highlights the usefulness of museum specimens, and importance of broad taxonomic sampling, for interpreting macroecological patterns.</p><p></p>
Data from: Male eyespan size is associated with meiotic drive in wild stalk-eyed flies (Teleopsis dalmanni)
This study provides the first direct evidence from wild populations of stalk-eyed flies to support the hypothesis that male eyespan is a signal of meiotic drive. Several stalk-eyed fly species are known to exhibit X-linked meiotic drive. A recent QTL analysis in Teleopsis dalmanni, found a potential link between variation in male eyespan, a sexually selected ornamental trait, and the presence of meiotic drive. This was based on laboratory populations subject to artificial selection for male eyespan. In this study we examined the association between microsatellite markers and levels of sex ratio bias (meiotic drive) in 12 wild T. dalmanni populations. We collected two data sets: a) brood sex ratios of wild-caught males mated to standard laboratory females, and b) variation in a range of phenotypic traits associated with reproductive success of wild- caught males and females. In each case, we typed individuals for 8 X-linked microsatellite markers, including several that previously were shown to be associated with male eyespan and meiotic drive. We found that one microsatellite marker was very strongly associated with meiotic drive whilst a second showed a weaker association. We also found that, using both independent datasets, meiotic drive was strongly associated with male eyespan, with smaller eyespan males being associated with more female-biased broods. These results suggest that mate preference for exaggerated male eyespan allows females to avoid mating with males carrying the meiotic drive gene and is thus a potential mechanism for the maintenance and evolution of female mate preference.
Data from: What does body size mean, from the "plant's eye view"?
Alternative metrics exist for representing variation in plant body size, but the vast majority of previous research for herbaceous plants has focused on dry mass. Dry mass provides a reasonably accurate and easily measured estimate for comparing relative capacity to convert solar energy into stored carbon. However, from a "plant's eye view", its experience of its local biotic environment of immediate neighbors (especially when crowded) may be more accurately represented by measures of "space occupancy" (S–O) recorded in situ—rather than dry mass measured after storage in a drying oven. This study investigated relationships between dry mass and alternative metrics of S–O body size for resident plants sampled from natural populations of herbaceous species found in Eastern Ontario. Plant height, maximum lateral canopy extent, and estimated canopy area and volume were recorded in situ (in the field)—and both fresh and dry mass were recorded in the laboratory—for 138 species ranging widely in body size and for 20 plants ranging widely in body size within each of 10 focal species. Dry mass and fresh mass were highly correlated (r2 > .95) and isometric, suggesting that for some studies, between-species (or between-plant) variation in water content may be unimportant and fresh mass can therefore substitute for dry mass. However, several relationships between dry mass and other S–O body size metrics showed allometry—that is, plants with smaller S–O body size had disproportionately less dry mass. In other words, they have higher "body mass density" (BMD) — more dry mass per unit S–O body size. These results have practical importance for experimental design and methodology as well as implications for the interpretation of "reproductive economy"—the capacity to produce offspring at small body sizes—because fecundity and dry mass (produced in the same growing season) typically have a positive, isometric relationship. Accordingly, the allometry between dry mass and S–O body size reported here suggests that plants with smaller S–O body size—because of higher BMD—may produce fewer offspring, but less than proportionately so; in other words, they may produce more offspring per unit of body size space occupancy.
Data from: Non-uniform evolutionary response of gecko eye size to changes in diel activity patterns
Geckos feature a large range of eye sizes, but what drives this phenotypic diversity is currently unknown. Earlier studies point towards diel activity patterns (DAP) and locomotory mode, but phylogenetic comparative studies in support of the proposed adaptive mode of eye evolution are lacking. Here we test the hypothesis of DAP as the driver of eye size evolution with a dataset on 99 species of gecko. Results from phylogenetic generalized least square analysis (PGLS) and multivariate model-fitting reveal smaller eyes in diurnal geckos consistent with different phenotypic optima. However, Bayesian analyses of selective regime shifts demonstrate that only 2 of 9 transitions from nocturnal to diurnal activity are coupled with decreases in eye size, and 2 other regime shifts are not associated with DAP transitions. This non-uniform evolutionary response suggests that eye size is not the only functionally relevant variable. Evolutionary adaptations may therefore include different combinations of several traits (e.g., photoreceptors), all with the same functional outcome. Our results further demonstrate that DAP only partially explains eye size diversity in geckos. As open habitats favor the evolution of large eyes while obstructed habitats favor small eyes, the degree of habitat clutter emerges as another potential axis of eye diversification.
Data from: The evolution of vertebrate eye size across an environmental gradient: phenotype does not predict genotype in a Trinidadian killifish
Vertebrates exhibit substantial variation in eye size. Eye size correlates positively with visual capacity and behaviors that enhance fitness, such as predator avoidance. This foreshadows a connection between predation and eye size evolution. Yet, the conditions that favor evolutionary shifts in eye size, besides the well-known role for light availability, are unclear. We tested the influence of predation on the evolution of eye size in Trinidadian killifish, Rivulus hartii. Rivulus are located across a series of communities where they coexist with visually oriented piscivores ('high predation' sites), and no predators ('Rivulus-only' sites). Wild-caught Rivulus from high predation sites generally exhibited a smaller relative eye size than communities that lack predators. Yet, such differences were inconsistent across rivers. Second-generation common garden reared fish revealed repeatable decreases in eye size in Rivulus from high predation sites. We performed additional experiments that tested the importance of light and resources on eye size evolution. Sites that differ in light or resource availability did not differ in eye size. Our results argue that differences in predator-induced mortality underlie genetically-based shifts in vertebrate eye size. We discuss the drivers of eye size evolution in light of the nonparallel trends between the phenotypic and common garden results.
Data and code for: A sensory ecology of fear: Eye size predicts moonlight avoidance responses in Neotropical electric fishes
<p>Data in support of: Eye size predicts moonlight avoidance responses in Neotropical electric fishes</p>
Coordinated evolution of brain size, structure and eye size in Trinidadian killifish
<p>Brain size, brain architecture, and eye size vary extensively in vertebrates. However, the extent to which the evolution of these components is intricately connected remains unclear. Trinidadian killifish, <em>Anablepsoides hartii</em>, are found in sites that differ in the presence and absence of large predatory fish. Decreased rates of predation are associated with evolutionary shifts in brain size; males from sites without predators have evolved a relatively larger brain and eye size than males from sites with predators. Here, we evaluated the extent to which the evolution of brain size, brain structure, and eye size covary in male killifish. We utilized wild-caught and common garden reared specimens to determine if specific components of the brain have evolved in response to differences in predation and to determine if there is covariation between the evolution of brain size, brain structure, and eye size. We observed consistent shifts in brain architecture in second generation common garden reared, but not wild caught preserved fish. Male killifish from sites that lack predators exhibited a significantly larger telencephalon, optic tectum, cerebellum, and dorsal medulla when compared with fish from sites with predators. We also found positive connections between the evolution of brain structure and eye size but not between overall brain size and eye size. These results provide evidence for evolutionary covariation between the components of the brain and eye size. Such results suggest that selection, directly or indirectly, acts upon specific regions of the brain, rather than overall brain size, to enhance visual capabilities.</p>
Evaluating the role of body size and habitat type in movement behavior in human-dominated systems: A frog's eye view
<p>Animal movement is a key process that connects and maintains populations on the landscape, yet for most species we do not understand how intrinsic and extrinsic factors interact to influence individual movement behavior. </p> <p>Land-use/land-cover changes highlight that connectivity among populations will depend upon an individual's ability to traverse habitats, which may vary as a result of habitat permeability, individual condition, or a combination of these factors.</p> <p>We examined the effects of intrinsic (body size) and extrinsic (habitat type) factors on desiccation tolerance, movement, and orientation in three anuran species (American toads, <em>Anaxyrus americanus</em>; northern leopard frogs, <em>Lithobates pipiens</em>; and Blanchard's cricket frogs, <em>Acris blanchardi</em>) using laboratory and field studies to connect the effects of susceptibility to desiccation, size, and movement behavior in single habitat types and at habitat edges.</p> <p>Smaller anurans were more vulnerable to desiccation, particularly for species that metamorphose at relatively small sizes. Habitat type had the strongest effect on movement, while body size had more situational and species-specific effects on movement. We found that individuals moved the farthest in habitat types that, when given the choice, they oriented away from, suggesting that these habitats are less favorable and could represent barriers for movement.</p> <p>Overall, our work demonstrated that differences in habitat type had strong impacts on individual movement behavior and influenced choices at habitat edges. By integrating intrinsic and extrinsic factors into our study, we provided evidence that population connectivity may be influenced not only by the habitat matrix, but the condition of the individuals leaving the habitat patch.</p>
Distribution. Now restricted to the Channel Country of SW Queensland and the Lake Eyre Basin in NE South Australia. Descriptive notes. Head-body 95-120 mm, tail 105-160 mm, ear 23-29 mm, hindfoot 32-37 mm; weight 30-50 g. The Fawn Hopping Mouse has body form typical of hopping mice, with very long hindfeet, long tail with distal brush of longer hairs, very long ears, and large protruberant eyes. Dorsal fur is of variable color, from pale pinkish fawn to gray; ventral fur white. Unlike most other hopping mice, it has no throat pouch, but males have a glandular area of naked skin on the chest. Habitat. Occurs in low shrublands and tussock grasslands on stony ("gibber") plains and claypans. Shows marked habitat segregation from the Dusky Hopping Mouse (N. fuscus), which is closely associated with sandy substrates. Food and Feeding. The Fawn Hopping Mouse is mostly granivorous, but also eats other plant material (stems, leaves) and occasionally invertebrates. It uses succulent, salt-adapted plants around edges of claypans as a source of water. Breeding. Reproduction is probably largely opportunistic and aseasonal, with high reproductive output from near-continuous breeding after periods of high rainfall; reported littersize is 1-5, most commonly three; gestation period 38-43 days for nonlactating females. Females may mature later than other hopping mice, with reproductive maturity reached at about six months. Activity patterns. Terrestrial and nocturnal. Fawn Hopping Mice shelter during day in burrow systems that are typically simpler and shallower than those of other hopping mice. Movements, Home range and Social organization. Fawn Hopping Mice generally live singly or in small groups; typically uncommon within range, but population density may increase by an order of magnitude following periods of high rainfall. Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. The Fawn Hopping Mouse has shown marked decline in range (estimated at greater than 50%), and presumably population size, since European settlement of Australia. This is mostlikely due to predation by the introduced house cat and Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), and to habitat degradation associated with pastoralism. Bibliography. Brazenor (1934), Burbidge et al. (2008), Finlayson (1939), Gould (1853), Jackson & Groves (2015), Murray et al. (1999), Ogilby (1892), Thomas (1921h), Van Dyck & Strahan (2008), Waite (1898), Watts & Aslin (1981), Woinarski et al. (2014), Wood Jones (1925). in Muridae
Distribution. Now restricted to the Channel Country of SW Queensland and the Lake Eyre Basin in NE South Australia. Descriptive notes. Head-body 95-120 mm, tail 105-160 mm, ear 23-29 mm, hindfoot 32-37 mm; weight 30-50 g. The Fawn Hopping Mouse has body form typical of hopping mice, with very long hindfeet, long tail with distal brush of longer hairs, very long ears, and large protruberant eyes. Dorsal fur is of variable color, from pale pinkish fawn to gray; ventral fur white. Unlike most other hopping mice, it has no throat pouch, but males have a glandular area of naked skin on the chest. Habitat. Occurs in low shrublands and tussock grasslands on stony ("gibber") plains and claypans. Shows marked habitat segregation from the Dusky Hopping Mouse (N. fuscus), which is closely associated with sandy substrates. Food and Feeding. The Fawn Hopping Mouse is mostly granivorous, but also eats other plant material (stems, leaves) and occasionally invertebrates. It uses succulent, salt-adapted plants around edges of claypans as a source of water. Breeding. Reproduction is probably largely opportunistic and aseasonal, with high reproductive output from near-continuous breeding after periods of high rainfall; reported littersize is 1-5, most commonly three; gestation period 38-43 days for nonlactating females. Females may mature later than other hopping mice, with reproductive maturity reached at about six months. Activity patterns. Terrestrial and nocturnal. Fawn Hopping Mice shelter during day in burrow systems that are typically simpler and shallower than those of other hopping mice. Movements, Home range and Social organization. Fawn Hopping Mice generally live singly or in small groups; typically uncommon within range, but population density may increase by an order of magnitude following periods of high rainfall. Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. The Fawn Hopping Mouse has shown marked decline in range (estimated at greater than 50%), and presumably population size, since European settlement of Australia. This is mostlikely due to predation by the introduced house cat and Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), and to habitat degradation associated with pastoralism. Bibliography. Brazenor (1934), Burbidge et al. (2008), Finlayson (1939), Gould (1853), Jackson & Groves (2015), Murray et al. (1999), Ogilby (1892), Thomas (1921h), Van Dyck & Strahan (2008), Waite (1898), Watts & Aslin (1981), Woinarski et al. (2014), Wood Jones (1925).
Data for: Experimental test of the influence of light availability on the evolution of eye size and behavior in Daphnia
<p>There exists extensive variation in eye size. Much work has provided a connection between light availability and differences in eye size across taxa. Experimental tests of the role of the light environment on the evolution of eye size are lacking. Here we performed a selection experiment that examined the influence of light availability on shifts in eye size and the connection between eye size and phototactic (anti-predator) behavior in <em>Daphnia</em>. We set up replicate experimental populations of <em>Daphnia</em>, repeatedly evaluated phenotypic shifts in eye size during the ~50-day experiment and performed a common garden experiment at the end of the experiment to test for evolutionary shifts in eye size and behavior. Our phenotypic analyses showed that eye size rapidly diverged between the light treatments; relative eye size was consistently larger in the low versus high light treatments. Selection on eye size was also modified by variation in density as increases in <em>Daphnia</em> density favored a larger eye. However, we did not observe differences in eye size between the light treatments following two generations of common garden rearing at the end of the experiment. We instead observed strong shifts in anti-predator behavior. <em>Daphnia</em> from the low light treatment exhibited decreased phototactic responses to light. Our results show that decreased light relaxes selection on anti-predator behavior. Such trends provide new insights into selection on eye size and behavior. </p>
Data for: Experimental test of the influence of light availability on the evolution of eye size and behavior in Daphnia
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