Scaling of growth and life history traits relative to body size, brain size, and metabolic rate in Lorises and Galagos (Lorisidae, primates)

1988 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Tab Rasmussen ◽  
M. Kay Izard
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Simmen ◽  
Luca Morino ◽  
Stéphane Blanc ◽  
Cécile Garcia

AbstractLife history, brain size and energy expenditure scale with body mass in mammals but there is little conclusive evidence for a correlated evolution between life history and energy expenditure (either basal/resting or daily) independent of body mass. We addressed this question by examining the relationship between primate free-living daily energy expenditure (DEE) measured by doubly labeled water method (n = 18 species), life history variables (maximum lifespan, gestation and lactation duration, interbirth interval, litter mass, age at first reproduction), resting metabolic rate (RMR) and brain size. We also analyzed whether the hypometabolic primates of Madagascar (lemurs) make distinct energy allocation tradeoffs compared to other primates (monkeys and apes) with different life history traits and ecological constraints. None of the life-history traits correlated with DEE after controlling for body mass and phylogeny. In contrast, a regression model showed that DEE increased with increasing RMR and decreasing reproductive output (i.e., litter mass/interbirth interval) independent of body mass. Despite their low RMR and smaller brains, lemurs had an average DEE remarkably similar to that of haplorhines. The data suggest that lemurs have evolved energy strategies that maximize energy investment to survive in the unusually harsh and unpredictable environments of Madagascar at the expense of reproduction.


2018 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 36-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel A. Otero ◽  
Favio E. Pollo ◽  
Pablo R. Grenat ◽  
Nancy E. Salas ◽  
Adolfo L. Martino

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9792
Author(s):  
Aluwani Nengovhela ◽  
Christiane Denys ◽  
Peter J. Taylor

Temporal changes in body size have been documented in a number of vertebrate species, with different contested drivers being suggested to explain these changes. Among these are climate warming, resource availability, competition, predation risk, human population density, island effects and others. Both life history traits (intrinsic factors such as lifespan and reproductive rate) and habitat (extrinsic factors such as vegetation type, latitude and elevation) are expected to mediate the existence of a significant temporal response of body size to climate warming but neither have been widely investigated. Using examples of rodents, we predicted that both life history traits and habitat might explain the probability of temporal response using two tests of this hypothesis. Firstly, taking advantage of new data from museum collections spanning the last 106 years, we investigated geographical and temporal variation in cranial size (a proxy for body size) in six African rodent species of two murid subfamilies (Murinae and Gerbillinae) of varying life history, degree of commensality, range size, and habitat. Two species, the commensal Mastomys natalensis, and the non-commensal Otomys unisulcatus showed significant temporal changes in body size, with the former increasing and the latter decreasing, in relation with climate warming. Commensalism could explain the increase in size with time due to steadily increasing food availability through increased agricultural production. Apart from this, we found no general life history or habitat predictors of a temporal response in African rodents. Secondly, in order to further test this hypothesis, we incorporated our data into a meta-analysis based on published literature on temporal responses in rodents, resulting in a combined dataset for 50 species from seven families worldwide; among these, 29 species showed no significant change, eight showed a significant increase in size, and 13 showed a decline in size. Using a binomial logistic regression model for these metadata, we found that none of our chosen life history or habitat predictors could significantly explain the probability of a temporal response to climate warming, reinforcing our conclusion based on the more detailed data from the six African species.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1096-1105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe A Moschilla ◽  
Joseph L Tomkins ◽  
Leigh W Simmons

Abstract The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis considers an animal’s behavior, physiology, and life history as nonindependent components of a single integrated phenotype. However, frequent deviations from the expected correlations between POLS traits suggest that these relationships may be context, and potentially, sex dependent. To determine whether the sexes express distinct POLS trait covariance structures, we observed the behavior (mobility, latency to emerge from a shelter), physiology (mass-specific metabolic rate), and life history (life span, development time) of male and female Australian field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus). Path analysis modeling suggested that POLS trait covariation differed between the sexes. Although neither sex displayed the complete integration of traits predicted by the POLS hypothesis, females did display greater overall integration with a significant negative correlation between metabolic rate and risk-taking behavior but with life-history traits varying independently. In males, however, there was no clear association between traits. These results suggest that T. oceanicus do indeed display sex-specific trait covariance structures, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging sex in assessments of POLS.


2004 ◽  
Vol 71 (sup2) ◽  
pp. 117-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Marzona ◽  
Daniele Seglie ◽  
Cristina Giacoma

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Lan Mai ◽  
Wen Bo Liao

Abstract Selection pressure is an important force in shaping the evolution of vertebrate brain size among populations within species as well as between species. The evolution of brain size is tightly linked to natural and sexual selection, and life-history traits. In particular, increased environmental stress, intensity of sexual selection, and slower life history usually result in enlarged brains. However, although previous studies have addressed the causes of brain size evolution, no systematic reviews have been conducted to explain brain size in anurans. Here, we review whether brain size evolution supports the cognitive buffer hypothesis (CBH), the expensive tissue hypothesis (ETH), or the developmental cost hypothesis (DCH) by analyzing the intraspecific and/or interspecific patterns in brain size and brain regions (i.e., olfactory nerves, olfactory bulbs, telencephalon, optic tectum, and cerebellum) associated with ecological factors (habitat, diet and predator risk), sexual selection intensity, life-history traits (age at sexual maturity, mean age, longevity, clutch size and egg size, testis size and sperm length), and other energetic organs. Our findings suggest that brain size evolution in anurans supports the CBH, ETH or DCH. We also suggest future directions for studying the relationships between brain size evolution and crypsis (i.e., ordinary mucous glands in the skin), and food alteration in different developmental stages.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Kahn ◽  
Julianne D. Livingston ◽  
Michael D. Jennions

A poor start in life owing to a restricted diet can have readily detectable detrimental consequences for many adult life-history traits. However, some costs such as smaller adult body size are potentially eliminated when individuals modify their development. For example, male mosquitofish ( Gambusia holbrooki ) that have reduced early food intake undergo compensatory growth and delay maturation so that they eventually mature at the same size as males that develop normally. But do subtle effects of a poor start persist? Specifically, does a male's developmental history affect his subsequent attractiveness to females? Females prefer to associate with larger males but, controlling for body length, we show that females spent less time in association with males that underwent compensatory growth than with males that developed normally.


Parasitology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 138 (7) ◽  
pp. 848-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. LOOT ◽  
N. POULET ◽  
S. BROSSE ◽  
L. TUDESQUE ◽  
F. THOMAS ◽  
...  

SUMMARYObjective. Unravelling the determinants of parasite life-history traits in natural settings is complex. Here, we deciphered the relationships between biotic, abiotic factors and the variation in 4 life-history traits (body size, egg presence, egg number and egg size) in the fish ectoparasite Tracheliastes polycolpus. We then determined the factors affecting the strength of the trade-off between egg number and egg size. Methods. To do so, we used 4-level (parasite, microhabitat, host and environment) hierarchical models coupled to a field database. Results. Variation in life-history traits was mostly due to individual characteristics measured at the parasite level. At the microhabitat level (fins of fish hosts), parasite number was positively related to body size, egg presence and egg number. Higher parasite number on fins was positively associated with individual parasite fitness. At the host level, host body size was positively related to the individual fitness of the parasite; parasites were bigger and more fecund on bigger hosts. In contrast, factors measured at the environmental level had a weak influence on life-history traits. Finally, a site-dependent trade-off between egg number and egg size existed in this population. Conclusion. Our study illustrates the importance of considering parasite life-history traits in a hierarchical framework to decipher complex links between biotic, abiotic factors and parasite life-history traits.


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