scholarly journals The evolution of body size in termites

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1963) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuaki Mizumoto ◽  
Thomas Bourguignon
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Reduction ◽  
Head Width ◽  
Termite Species ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Modern Species ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Phylogenetic Framework ◽  
Size Variability ◽  
Width Measurements

Termites are social cockroaches. Because non-termite cockroaches are larger than basal termite lineages, which themselves include large termite species, it has been proposed that termites experienced a unidirectional body size reduction since they evolved eusociality. However, the validity of this hypothesis remains untested in a phylogenetic framework. Here, we reconstructed termite body size evolution using head width measurements of 1638 modern and fossil termite species. We found that the unidirectional body size reduction model was only supported by analyses excluding fossil species. Analyses including fossil species suggested that body size diversified along with speciation events and estimated that the size of the common ancestor of modern termites was comparable to that of modern species. Our analyses further revealed that body size variability among species, but not body size reduction, is associated with features attributed to advanced termite societies. Our results suggest that miniaturization took place at the origin of termites, while subsequent complexification of termite societies did not lead to further body size reduction.

scholarly journals The history of body size evolution in termites

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuaki Mizumoto ◽  
Thomas Bourguignon
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Reduction ◽  
Head Width ◽  
Termite Species ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Modern Species ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Body Size Evolution ◽  
Width Measurements

Termites are social cockroaches. Because non-termite cockroaches are larger than basal termite lineages, which themselves include large termite species, it has been proposed that termites experienced a unidirectional body size reduction since they evolved eusociality. However, the validity of this hypothesis remains untested in a phylogenetic framework. Here, we reconstructed termite body size evolution using head width measurements of 1638 modern and fossil termite species. We found that the unidirectional body size reduction model was only supported by analyses excluding fossil species. Analyses including fossil species suggested that body size diversified along with speciation events and estimated that the size of the common ancestor of modern termites was comparable to that of modern species. Our analyses further revealed that body size variability among species, but not body size reduction, is associated with features attributed to advanced termite societies. Our results suggest that miniaturization took place at the origin of termites, while subsequent complexification of termite societies did not lead to further body size reduction.

scholarly journals The evolution of island gigantism and body size variation in tortoises and turtles

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander L. Jaffe ◽  
Graham J. Slater ◽  
Michael E. Alfaro
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Body Size Variation ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Seychelles Islands ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Terrestrial Environments ◽  
Size Diversity ◽  
Phylogenetic Framework ◽  
Body Size Evolution

Extant chelonians (turtles and tortoises) span almost four orders of magnitude of body size, including the startling examples of gigantism seen in the tortoises of the Galapagos and Seychelles islands. However, the evolutionary determinants of size diversity in chelonians are poorly understood. We present a comparative analysis of body size evolution in turtles and tortoises within a phylogenetic framework. Our results reveal a pronounced relationship between habitat and optimal body size in chelonians. We found strong evidence for separate, larger optimal body sizes for sea turtles and island tortoises, the latter showing support for the rule of island gigantism in non-mammalian amniotes. Optimal sizes for freshwater and mainland terrestrial turtles are similar and smaller, although the range of body size variation in these forms is qualitatively greater. The greater number of potential niches in freshwater and terrestrial environments may mean that body size relationships are more complicated in these habitats.

Dinosaur Macroevolution and Macroecology

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 379-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger B.J. Benson
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Body Plan ◽  
Adaptive Landscape ◽  
Species Diversification ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Body Size Evolution

Dinosaurs were large-bodied land animals of the Mesozoic that gave rise to birds. They played a fundamental role in structuring Jurassic–Cretaceous ecosystems and had physiology, growth, and reproductive biology unlike those of extant animals. These features have made them targets of theoretical macroecology. Dinosaurs achieved substantial structural diversity, and their fossil record documents the evolutionary assembly of the avian body plan. Phylogeny-based research has allowed new insights into dinosaur macroevolution, including the adaptive landscape of their body size evolution, patterns of species diversification, and the origins of birds and bird-like traits. Nevertheless, much remains unknown due to incompleteness of the fossil record at both local and global scales. This presents major challenges at the frontier of paleobiological research regarding tests of macroecological hypotheses and the effects of dinosaur biology, ecology, and life history on their macroevolution.

scholarly journals The developmental and physiological basis of body size evolution in an insect

2001 ◽  
Vol 268 (1476) ◽  
pp. 1589-1593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis J. D'Amico ◽  
Goggy Davidowitz ◽  
H. Frederik Nijhout
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Body Size Evolution

scholarly journals A male of the bee genus Agapostemon in Dominican amber (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

2013 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Engel ◽  
Laura C.V. Breitkreuz
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
West Indian ◽  
The West ◽  
Single Male ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Dominican Amber ◽  
Modern Species

Thefirst fossil species of the caenohalictine bee genus Agapostemon Guérin-Méneville (Halictinae: Caenohalictini:Agapostemonina) is described and figured from a single male preserved in EarlyMiocene (Burdigalian) amber from the Dominican Republic.  Agapostemon (Notagapostemon) luzziiEngel & Breitkreuz, new species, is compared with modern species and isnoteworthy for the absence of metafemoral modifications [in this regardplesiomorphically resembling the West Indian A. kohliellus (Vachal)and A. centratus (Vachal)], form of the head and protibial antennalcleaner, integumental sculpturing, and male terminalia, the latter of which arefortunately exposed and cleared.  Briefcomments are made on the affinity of the species to others in the West Indiesand surrounding regions as well as possible biogeographic implications.

scholarly journals Variation in body size of Phanocerus clavicornis Sharp, 1882 (Coleoptera: Elmidae: Larainae) in Atlantic Rainforest streams in response to hydraulic disturbance

2013 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 747-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
MO. Segura ◽  
T. Siqueira ◽  
AA. Fonseca-Gessner
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Total Body Length ◽  
Atlantic Rainforest ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Head Width ◽  
High Plasticity ◽  
Larval Size ◽  
Morphometric Variation ◽  
Total Body ◽  
Rain Events

In this study, patterns of body size of Phanocerus clavicornis Sharp, 1882 (Coleoptera: Elmidae: Larainae) were investigated along a gradient of change in speed of flow conditions in streams of low order in the Atlantic Rainforest in southeastern Brazil. Specifically, the hypothesis that the distribution of P. clavicornis larvae vary in size in response to variations in the speed of flow in streams was tested. A Surber sampler was used to collect larvae from the streambed during two sampling periods, defined by the rain regime: August in the dry season and February in the rainy season. Possible differences in mean measured body size were tested by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The ANOVA result indicated for all measurements on the larvae collected in first-order streams (head width, prothoracic width and total body length), there were significant differences indicating a morphometric variation due to changing hydraulic conditions, the smallest larvae being associated with the period of greater rainfall. However, the larger streams (3rd order), where the rain events had less impact on the larval size, varied widely. The results of this study suggest that the interstitial space is important for the protection of the larvae from water flow, and that populations of P. clavicornis have high plasticity, a key feature for the occupation of unstable environments for this species. These results are important for an understanding of the life history and behavioural characteristics of the species, which allow them to persist in streams along a gradient of flow disturbance.

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