Back to Search Start Over

Effects of allometry, productivity and lifestyle on rates and limits of body size evolution.

Authors :
Okie JG
Boyer AG
Brown JH
Costa DP
Ernest SK
Evans AR
Fortelius M
Gittleman JL
Hamilton MJ
Harding LE
Lintulaakso K
Lyons SK
Saarinen JJ
Smith FA
Stephens PR
Theodor J
Uhen MD
Sibly RM
Source :
Proceedings. Biological sciences [Proc Biol Sci] 2013 Jun 12; Vol. 280 (1764), pp. 20131007. Date of Electronic Publication: 2013 Jun 12 (Print Publication: 2013).
Publication Year :
2013

Abstract

Body size affects nearly all aspects of organismal biology, so it is important to understand the constraints and dynamics of body size evolution. Despite empirical work on the macroevolution and macroecology of minimum and maximum size, there is little general quantitative theory on rates and limits of body size evolution. We present a general theory that integrates individual productivity, the lifestyle component of the slow-fast life-history continuum, and the allometric scaling of generation time to predict a clade's evolutionary rate and asymptotic maximum body size, and the shape of macroevolutionary trajectories during diversifying phases of size evolution. We evaluate this theory using data on the evolution of clade maximum body sizes in mammals during the Cenozoic. As predicted, clade evolutionary rates and asymptotic maximum sizes are larger in more productive clades (e.g. baleen whales), which represent the fast end of the slow-fast lifestyle continuum, and smaller in less productive clades (e.g. primates). The allometric scaling exponent for generation time fundamentally alters the shape of evolutionary trajectories, so allometric effects should be accounted for in models of phenotypic evolution and interpretations of macroevolutionary body size patterns. This work highlights the intimate interplay between the macroecological and macroevolutionary dynamics underlying the generation and maintenance of morphological diversity.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1471-2954
Volume :
280
Issue :
1764
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
23760865
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1007