Geographic variation in body size among French populations of the European pond turtle

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Fabien Mignet ◽  
Jean-Yves Barnagaud ◽  
Laurent Barthe ◽  
Albert Bertolero ◽  
Valérie Bosc ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Genetic Lineage ◽  
Emys Orbicularis ◽  
Pond Turtle ◽  
Regional Factors ◽  
Local Levels ◽  
Range Variation

Abstract The processes underlying macroecological gradients in body size are widely debated, in part because their intraspecific variability remains poorly described even in well-studied taxa such as vertebrates. In this study, we investigated how climate, habitat, genetic lineage and sex explain body size variations in French populations of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis). We measured 7016 adult individuals captured in 41 populations, covering most of the species’ distribution in metropolitan France, including Corsica. Body size variation in our sample was wide and comparable to that found across the species’ worldwide range. Variation was similar in magnitude at regional and local levels, suggesting that body size is influenced by local factors as much as by regional factors such as climate or genetic lineage. Smaller sizes were associated with Mediterranean or altered oceanic climates, and with two lineages (E. o. galloitalica and E. o. galloitalica/E. o. orbicularis), while larger sizes were associated with northern environments and the orbicularis lineage. Body size variations recorded at local level reflect an adaptive response to environmental constraints, suggesting that habitat is also an important factor in understanding size variation.

Climate and patterns of body size variation in the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis

2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Joos ◽  
Martin Kirchner ◽  
Melita Vamberger ◽  
Marzieh Kaviani ◽  
Mohammad Reza Rahimibashar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Emys Orbicularis ◽  
Pond Turtle ◽  
Body Size Variation

scholarly journals Morphometric measurements of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis)(L., 1758) in Lithuania

Biologija ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Lukošiūtė ◽  
Monika Brimaitė ◽  
Alma Pikūnienė ◽  
Ramūnas Krugelis ◽  
Algimantas Paulauskas
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Shell Height ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Ecological Network ◽  
Morphometric Measurements ◽  
Emys Orbicularis ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Pond Turtle ◽  
Males And Females

In Lithuania, the number of European pond turtles Emys orbicularis decreased between 1975 and 2010, but increased significantly between 2010 and 2014, when the LIFE project was implemented. During this project, an ecological network was created, habitats were restored in protected areas, and European pond turtle nesting areas were protected from predators. Very few morphometric measurements of European pond turtles are carried out in Lithuania. The purpose of this study was to perform morphometric measurements, assess migration, spread, and morphometric size variation. Morphometric measurements of juvenile European pond turtles showed that the morphometric indicators depended on the place of habitation: males from Juodabalė Zoological Reserve (Meteliai Regional Park) are smaller than females. Also, female turtles from Meteliai Regional Park are larger than both males and females from Kučiuliškė Herpetological Reserve. When comparing the morphometric indicators of males and females at ten months of age, sexual dimorphism is already observed: the shell height, the width of the head, carapace, and plastron of a females are already bigger than those of males.

Response to chemical cues from conspecifics reflects male mating preference for large females and avoidance of large competitors in the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis

Behaviour ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 143 (5) ◽  
pp. 569-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Plath ◽  
Yvonne Meyer-Lucht ◽  
Jens R. Poschadel
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
The Body ◽  
Size Difference ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Emys Orbicularis ◽  
Strength Of Preference ◽  
Pond Turtle ◽  
Untreated Water

AbstractWe examined chemical communication in male and female European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis). In simultaneous binary choice tests, a focal animal was given a choice between pheromones from a conspecific and a choice chamber containing untreated water. Females did not show a preference, both when male and when female stimuli were presented. On the contrary, males preferred the odor of a female over untreated water, suggesting that males actively search for females. The strength of preference was positively correlated with the body size difference between the female and the focal male, indicating that males prefer to mate with larger females. Female fecundity is positively correlated with female size in E. orbicularis, which may account for male choosiness. No overall preference for the stimulus animal was observed when males were presented cues from another male. However, the strength of preference was negatively correlated with the difference in body size. Males avoided large males, but oriented towards smaller stimulus males. This reflects that males form dominance hierarchies, where large males aggressively attack smaller ones. Far-range chemical communication probably enables males to minimize the risk of costly aggressive interactions. This is, to our knowledge, the first study on the role of chemical cues for inter and intrasexual communication in the European pond turtle.

scholarly journals MalagasyConostigmus(Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea) and the secret of scutes

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2682 ◽  
Author(s):  
István Mikó ◽  
Carolyn Trietsch ◽  
Emily L. Sandall ◽  
Matthew Jon Yoder ◽  
Heather Hines ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Cell Size ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Cell Number ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Ontology Language ◽  
Diversity Gradient ◽  
New Information ◽  
First Time

We revise the genusConostigmus Dahlbom1858 occurring in Madagascar, based on data from more specimens than were examined for the latest world revision of the genus. Our results yield new information about intraspecific variability and the nature of the atypical latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) observed in Ceraphronoidea. We also investigate cellular processes that underlie body size polyphenism, by utilizing the correspondence between epidermal cells and scutes, polygonal units of leather-like microsculpture. Our results reveal that body size polyphenism in Megaspilidae is most likely related to cell number and not cell size variation, and that cell size differs between epithelial fields of the head and that of the mesosoma. Three species,Conostigmus ballescoracasDessart, 1997,C. babaiaxDessart, 1996 andC. longulusDessart, 1997, are redescribed. Females ofC. longulusare described for the first time, as are nine new species:C. bucephalusMikó and Trietsch sp. nov.,C. clavatusMikó and Trietsch sp. nov.,C. fianarantsoaensisMikó and Trietsch sp. nov.,C. lucidusMikó and Trietsch sp. nov.,C. macrocupula, Mikó and Trietsch sp. nov.,C. madagascariensisMikó and Trietsch sp. nov.,C. missyhazenaeMikó and Trietsch sp. nov.,C. pseudobabaiaxMikó and Trietsch sp. nov., andC. toliaraensisMikó and Trietsch sp. nov. A fully illustrated identification key forMalagasy Conostigmusspecies and a Web Ontology Language (OWL) representation of the taxonomic treatment, including specimen data, nomenclature, and phenotype descriptions, in both natural and formal languages, are provided.

scholarly journals Tropical bird species have less variable body sizes

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 20170453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin D. Read ◽  
Benjamin Baiser ◽  
John M. Grady ◽  
Phoebe L. Zarnetske ◽  
Sydne Record ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Resource Specialization ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Lower Variation ◽  
Size Variability ◽  
Tropical Bird

Ecologists have often predicted that species' niche breadths should decline towards the Equator. Dan Janzen arrived at this prediction based on climatic constraints, while Robert MacArthur argued that a latitudinal gradient in resource specialization drives the pattern. This idea has some support when it comes to thermal niches, but has rarely been explored for other niche dimensions. Body size is linked to niche dimensions related to diet, competition and environmental tolerance in vertebrates. We identified 68 pairs of tropical and nontropical sister bird species using a comprehensive phylogeny and used the VertNet specimen database to ask whether tropical birds have lower intraspecific body-size variation than their nontropical sister species. Our results show that tropical species have less intraspecific variability in body mass ( ; p = 0.009). Variation in body-size variability was poorly explained by both abiotic and biotic drivers; thus the mechanisms underlying the pattern are still unclear. The lower variation in body size of tropical bird species may have evolved in response to more stable climates and resource environments.

Local Policy for a Protected Environmental Area Management: The Case of Limiting Motorized Vehicles in Park of Canigou in Pyrenées Orientales

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Individual Action ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Motorized Vehicles ◽  
Local Levels

“We regard the recent science –based consensual reports that climate change is, to a large extend, caused by human activities that emit green houses as tenable, Such activities range from air traffic, with a global reach over industrial belts and urban conglomerations to local small, scale energy use for heating homes and mowing lawns. This means that effective climate strategies inevitably also require action all the way from global to local levels. Since the majority of those activities originate at the local level and involve individual action, however, climate strategies must literally begin at home to hit home.”

The Body Size of Headstarted and Wild Juvenile European Pond Turtles (Emys orbicularis)

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Sławomir Mitrus ◽  
Bartłomiej Najbar ◽  
Adam Kotowicz ◽  
Anna Najbar
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Emys Orbicularis

scholarly journals Independent evolution towards larger body size in the distinctive Faroe Island mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Wilches ◽  
William H Beluch ◽  
Ellen McConnell ◽  
Diethard Tautz ◽  
Yingguang Frank Chan
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Laboratory Mouse ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Multiple Loci

Abstract Most phenotypic traits in nature involve the collective action of many genes. Traits that evolve repeatedly are particularly useful for understanding how selection may act on changing trait values. In mice, large body size has evolved repeatedly on islands and under artificial selection in the laboratory. Identifying the loci and genes involved in this process may shed light on the evolution of complex, polygenic traits. Here, we have mapped the genetic basis of body size variation by making a genetic cross between mice from the Faroe Islands, which are among the largest and most distinctive natural populations of mice in the world, and a laboratory mouse strain selected for small body size, SM/J. Using this F2 intercross of 841 animals, we have identified 111 loci controlling various aspects of body size, weight and growth hormone levels. By comparing against other studies, including the use of a joint meta-analysis, we found that the loci involved in the evolution of large size in the Faroese mice were largely independent from those of a different island population or other laboratory strains. We hypothesize that colonization bottleneck, historical hybridization, or the redundancy between multiple loci have resulted in the Faroese mice achieving an outwardly similar phenotype through a distinct evolutionary path.

scholarly journals Mammalian body size is determined by interactions between climate, urbanization, and ecological traits

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie M. Hantak ◽  
Bryan S. McLean ◽  
Daijiang Li ◽  
Robert P. Guralnick
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Body Size Variation ◽  
Resource Availability Hypothesis ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Thermal Buffering

AbstractAnthropogenically-driven climate warming is a hypothesized driver of animal body size reductions. Less understood are effects of other human-caused disturbances on body size, such as urbanization. We compiled 140,499 body size records of over 100 North American mammals to test how climate and human population density, a proxy for urbanization, and their interactions with species traits, impact body size. We tested three hypotheses of body size variation across urbanization gradients: urban heat island effects, habitat fragmentation, and resource availability. Our results demonstrate that both urbanization and temperature influence mammalian body size variation, most often leading to larger individuals, thus supporting the resource availability hypothesis. In addition, life history and other ecological factors play a critical role in mediating the effects of climate and urbanization on body size. Larger mammals and species that utilize thermal buffering are more sensitive to warmer temperatures, while flexibility in activity time appears to be advantageous in urbanized areas. This work highlights the value of using digitized, natural history data to track how human disturbance drives morphological variation.

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