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1.
Understanding the relationship between growth and temperature will aid in the evaluation of thermal stress and threats to ectotherms in the context of anticipated climate changes. Most Pecten maximus scallops living at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere have a larger maximum body size than individuals further south, a common pattern among many ectotherms. We investigated differences in daily shell growth among scallop populations along the Northeast Atlantic coast from Spain to Norway. This study design allowed us to address precisely whether the asymptotic size observed along a latitudinal gradient, mainly defined by a temperature gradient, results from differences in annual or daily growth rates, or a difference in the length of the growing season. We found that low annual growth rates in northern populations are not due to low daily growth values, but to the smaller number of days available each year to achieve growth compared to the south. We documented a decrease in the annual number of growth days with age regardless of latitude. However, despite initially lower annual growth performances in terms of growing season length and growth rate, differences in asymptotic size as a function of latitude resulted from persistent annual growth performances in the north and sharp declines in the south. Our measurements of daily growth rates throughout life in a long-lived ectothermic species provide new insight into spatio-temporal variations in growth dynamics and growing season length that cannot be accounted for by classical growth models that only address asymptotic size and annual growth rate.  相似文献   

2.
中华稻蝗五地理种群的卵滞育强度及生活史模式变异   总被引:2,自引:1,他引:1  
为调查中华稻蝗Oxya chinensis的地理适应,自北纬42.3°至20.0°采集了5个地理种群的标本,比较了其子代的卵滞育发生、滞育强度及成虫虫体大小。结果表明: 不同的中华稻蝗地理种群显示了不同的光周期和温度反应模式。铁岭、济宁和泗洪种群的滞育不受光周期和温度的影响,滞育率均为100%。南方的长沙和海口种群仅部分卵进入滞育,海口种群在短日条件下的滞育率高于长日条件,卵期温度亦对其滞育有较大的影响,而长沙种群的卵滞育仅受卵期温度的调控。长沙和海口种群的卵滞育强度最弱,其次是铁岭种群,中间纬度的济宁和泗洪种群的滞育强度最高。在北方的一化性种群中,滞育强度随着纬度的降低而增强。成虫的虫体大小因栖息地纬度的变化而呈现复杂的变异,北方种群的虫体大小与栖息地纬度存在显著的负相关关系,而长沙和海口种群的虫体小于济宁和泗洪种群。结果提示中华稻蝗各种群已形成各自的地理适应机制,纬度梯度在其生活史的形成和发育中起着重要的作用。  相似文献   

3.
Genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity in growth rates along latitudinal gradients may benefit our understanding of latitudinal compensating mechanisms in life history patterns. Here we explore latitudinal compensatory growth mechanisms with respect to photoperiod in northern and southern populations of two damselfly species, Coenagrion puella and C. pulchellum. In addition we compared size of field‐collected adults from southern and northern populations. Eggs from females in copulating tandems were collected at two or three localities for each species in each geographic region. Eggs were transported to the laboratory and the experiment started when the eggs hatched. The role of photoperiod on the expression of larval growth rate was evaluated under controlled laboratory conditions. Both species had lower growth rate when reared in the northern photoperiod, which is counter to expectations if species use photoperiodic cues to trigger compensatory growth. Instead, both species displayed countergradient variation in growth rates, which probably enable northern populations to compensate for the shorter growth season in the north. The smaller size of field‐collected adults from northern populations also supports the view that these species compensate for the shorter growth season by investing in growth and development but accomplish this at the expense of decreased final size.  相似文献   

4.
Latitudinal variation in fitness-related traits has often been attributed to local adaptation to climates. In poikilotherms including fishes, lower temperatures and shorter reproductive seasons at high latitudes would be expected to cause a reduction in annual reproductive output of an individual. Theories of latitudinal compensation predict that organisms at high latitudes should evolve compensatory responses for these climatic effects. Therefore, latitudinal compensation in female reproductive rate (egg production rate), that individuals from high latitudes produce eggs at higher rates than those from lower latitudes, is likely to occur. I tested this hypothesis with a latitudinally widespread reef fish Pomacentrus coelestis that is a multiple batch spawner, from three different localities, from temperate to subtropical waters, within Japan. I used common-environment experiments at three different temperatures to compare reproductive capacity among local populations. In the experiments, average inter-spawning intervals were the shortest and average size-specific clutch weight was the heaviest in fish from the most northern locality across all temperatures, showing clear latitudinal clines. Thus, the northern fish can achieve higher reproductive output per unit time both by shortening inter-spawning intervals and increasing size-specific clutch weight. Additionally, faster egg production rate of the northern fish did not result from increased food consumption. This finding suggests that gross egg production efficiency was higher in the northern fish and that northern fish had a superior capacity for reproduction within a season. These results support the prediction that latitudinal compensation occurs in the female reproductive rate of P. coelestis. As the reproductive season of this species decreases drastically with increasing latitude, the observed cline in the reproductive rate must be an adaptive response to the local selective regime, i.e., length of the reproductive season. Such latitudinal compensation in female reproductive rates may be a common pattern in latitudinally widespread fishes.  相似文献   

5.
The relative roles of genetic differentiation and developmental plasticity in generating latitudinal gradients in life histories remain insufficiently understood. In particular, this applies to determination of voltinism (annual number of generations) in short‐lived ectotherms, and the associated trait values. We studied different components of variation in development of Chiasmia clathrata (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) larvae that originated from populations expressing univoltine, partially bivoltine or bivoltine phenology along a latitudinal gradient of season length. Indicative of population‐level genetic differentiation, larval period became longer while growth rate decreased with increasing season length within a particular phenology, but saw‐tooth clines emerged across the phenologies. Indicative of phenotypic plasticity, individuals that developed directly into reproductive adults had shorter development times and higher growth rates than those entering diapause. The most marked differences between the alternative developmental pathways were found in the bivoltine region suggesting that the adaptive correlates of the direct development evolve if exposed to selection. Pupal mass followed a complex cline without clear reference to the shift in voltinism or developmental pathway probably due to varying interplay between the responses in development time and growth rate. The results highlight the multidimensionality of evolutionary trajectories of life‐history traits, which either facilitate or constrain the evolution of integrated traits in alternative phenotypes.  相似文献   

6.
Drosophila ananassae, a desiccation and cold sensitive species, is abundant along the latitudinal gradient of the Indian subcontinent. Analysis of seasonally varying wild-caught flies showed two independent patterns of melanisation: (1) narrow to broad melanic stripes on three anterior abdominal segments only; (2) a novel body color pattern (dark vs. light background). We investigated the degree to which these two melanisation systems vary; first with latitude and secondly among seasons. There is a shallow latitudinal cline for percent striped melanisation as well as for frequency of body color alleles during the rainy season. The frequencies of body color alleles vary significantly across seasons in the northern populations i.e. the light allele occur abundantly (>0.94) during the rainy season while the frequency of the dark allele increases (0.22–0.35) during the dry season causing steeper clines during the dry season. By contrast, the low variations in abdominal stripes showed non-significant changes and the cline was similar across seasons. Furthermore, both types of melanisation patterns showed no plasticity with respect to temperature. The present study also investigated clines related to desiccation, heat and cold stress in D. ananassae females across seasons (rainy and dry) from nine latitudinal populations. The clines for stress related traits changes to steeper and non-linear during the dry season. Thus, latitudinal populations of D. ananassae differ in slope values of clines for stress related traits across seasons. This study reports seasonal changes in latitudinal clines of stress resistance traits as seen in a changing frequency of body color alleles of D. ananassae in northern locality, while in southern localities it remains constant. This is presumably the result of only minor seasonal changes in humidity and temperature in the South, whereas in the North seasonal climatic variability is much higher.  相似文献   

7.
Seasonality and the scheduling of life history at different latitudes   总被引:5,自引:0,他引:5  
For many ectotherms, the annual cycle is partitioned into 'growing' (summer) and 'non-growing' (winter) seasons, and the lengths of these seasons are inversely related across a latitudinal gradient. This pattern of variation has the potential to affect diverse life-history traits profoundly. A key selective agent is size-dependent winter mortality which, with increasing latitude, places an increasing premium on attainment of large body size before the first winter of life. Winter body size is determined primarily by two factors: (1) birth date, which defines the beginning of the first growing season and (2) somatic growth rate within the first season. Using examples drawn from the Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia (L.), and other fishes, I show how latitudinal variation in the scheduling of the spawning season, countergradient variation in the capacity for growth and reproduction, and mode of sex determination (environmental v. genetic) represent adaptations to seasonality.  相似文献   

8.
In ectothermic organisms, declining season length and lower temperature towards higher latitudes often select for latitudinal variation in growth and development. However, the energetic mechanisms underlying this adaptive variation are largely unknown. We investigated growth, food intake and growth efficiency of Rana temporaria tadpoles from eight populations along a 1500 km latitudinal gradient across Sweden. To gain an insight into the mechanisms of adaptation at organ level, we also examined variation in tadpole gut length. The tadpoles were raised at two temperatures (16 and 20 degrees C) in a laboratory common garden experiment. We found increased growth rate towards higher latitudes, regardless of temperature treatment. This increase in growth was not because of a higher food intake rate, but populations from higher latitudes had higher growth efficiency, i.e. they were more efficient at converting ingested food into body mass. Low temperature reduced growth efficiency most strongly in southern populations. Relative gut length increased with latitude, and tadpoles at low temperature tended to have longer guts. However, variation in gut length was not the sole adaptive explanation for increased growth efficiency as latitude and body length still explained significant amounts of variation in growth efficiency. Hence, additional energetic adaptations are probably involved in growth efficiency variation along the latitudinal gradient.  相似文献   

9.
Stochastic effects from demographic processes and selection are expected to shape the distribution of genetic variation in spatially heterogeneous environments. As the amount of genetic variation is central for long‐term persistence of populations, understanding how these processes affect variation over large‐scale geographical gradients is pivotal. We investigated the distribution of neutral and putatively adaptive genetic variation, and reconstructed demographic history in the moor frog (Rana arvalis) using 136 individuals from 15 populations along a 1,700‐km latitudinal gradient from northern Germany to northern Sweden. Using double digest restriction‐site associated DNA sequencing we obtained 27,590 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and identified differentiation outliers and SNPs associated with growing season length. The populations grouped into a southern and a northern cluster, representing two phylogeographical lineages from different post‐glacial colonization routes. Hybrid index estimation and demographic model selection showed strong support for a southern and northern lineage and evidence of gene flow between regions located on each side of a contact zone. However, patterns of past gene flow over the contact zone differed between neutral and putatively adaptive SNPs. While neutral nucleotide diversity was higher along the southern than the northern part of the gradient, nucleotide diversity in differentiation outliers showed the opposite pattern, suggesting differences in the relative strength of selection and drift along the gradient. Variation associated with growing season length decreased with latitude along the southern part of the gradient, but not along the northern part where variation was lower, suggesting stronger climate‐mediated selection in the north. Outlier SNPs included loci involved in immunity and developmental processes.  相似文献   

10.
Adaptive studies of avian clutch size variation across environmental gradients have resulted in what has become known as the fecundity gradient paradox, the observation that clutch size typically decreases with increasing breeding season length along latitudinal gradients, but increases with increasing breeding season length along elevational gradients. These puzzling findings challenge the common belief that organisms should reduce their clutch size in favor of additional nesting attempts as the length of the breeding season increases, an approach typically described as a bet‐hedging strategy. Here, we propose an alternative hypothesis—the multitasking hypothesis—and show that laying smaller clutches represents a multitasking strategy of switching between breeding and recovery from breeding. Both our individual‐based and analytical models demonstrate that a small clutch size strategy is favored during shorter breeding seasons because less time and energy are wasted under the severe time constraints associated with breeding multiply within a season. Our model also shows that a within‐generation bet‐hedging strategy is not favored by natural selection, even under a high risk of predation and in long breeding seasons. Thus, saving time—wasting less time as a result of an inability to complete a breeding cycle at the end of breeding season—is likely to be the primary benefit favoring the evolution of small avian clutch sizes during short breeding seasons. We also synthesize the seasonality hypothesis (pronounced seasonality leads to larger clutch size) and clutch size‐dependent predation hypothesis (larger clutch size causes higher predation risks) within our multitasking hypothesis to develop an integrative model to help resolve the paradox of contrasting patterns of clutch size along elevational and latitudinal gradients. Ultimately, our models provide a new perspective for understanding life‐history evolution under fluctuating environments.  相似文献   

11.
Laugen AT  Laurila A  Merilä J 《Oecologia》2003,135(4):548-554
Variation in seasonal time constraints and temperature along latitudinal gradients are expected to select for life history trait differentiation, but information about the relative importance of these factors in shaping patterns of divergence in embryonic traits remains sparse. We studied embryonic survival, growth and development rates in the common frog (Rana temporaria) along a 1,400-km latitudinal gradient across Sweden by raising embryos from four populations in the laboratory at seven temperatures (9 degrees C, 12 degrees C, 15 degrees C, 18 degrees C, 21 degrees C, 24 degrees C, 27 degrees C). We found significant differences in mean values of all traits between the populations and temperature treatments, but this variation was not latitudinally ordered. In general, embryonic survival decreased at the two highest temperatures in all populations, but less so in the southernmost as compared to the other populations. The northernmost population developed slowest at the lowest temperature, while the two mid-latitude populations were slowest at the other temperatures. Hatchling size increased with increasing temperature especially in the two northern populations, whereas the two southern populations showed peak hatchling size at 15 degrees C. Analyses of within-population genetic variation with a half-sib design revealed that there was significant additive genetic variation in all traits, and egg size-related maternal effects were important in the case of hatchling size. Overall, our results indicate that unlike larval growth and development, variation in embryonic development and growth in R. temporaria cannot be explained in terms of a latitudinal gradient in season length. While adaptation to a latitudinal variation in temperature might have contributed to the observed differentiation in embryonic performance, the effects of other, perhaps more local environmental factors, seem to have overridden them in importance.  相似文献   

12.
1. Temporally constrained environments, such as habitats with short growth seasons or short hydroperiods, cause potentially strong selection on life histories. Depending on the predictability of these events and the extent of spatial and temporal heterogeneity, local populations could become adapted either via a fixed phenotype or via life history plasticity in response to these environmental cues. 2. We used a common garden experiment to investigate microgeographic variation in life history responses to combined changes in photoperiod (ambient/late) and hydroperiod (constant/drying) time constraint cues in an alpine caddisfly (Trichoptera). We compared six populations (three permanent/three temporary streams) originating from a small, alpine floodplain and which spanned an expected gradient in growth period duration (GPD) with distance from glaciers. 3. We made two main predictions in relation to locally varying selection pressures: (i) populations nearest glaciers (shorter GPD and strongest time constraints) should have the fastest development rates and (ii) populations from permanent streams should be less able to respond to drying hydroperiods than populations from temporary streams. 4. All populations and both sexes accelerated development in response to late season photoperiod cues. However, only permanent stream populations showed an increase in development time with increasing GPD, suggesting that other factors were influencing populations in temporary streams. 5. Permanent stream populations showed countergradient variation (genetic and environmental influences were in opposition) in development time, and under‐compensation of growth rates resulted in a converse Bergmann cline in body size (smaller body size along gradients of declining season length). The extent of plasticity in response to hydroperiod, and the combined effects of both time constraints, differed between populations and sexes, but were not consistent among populations. 6. Taken together, our results suggest adaptive plasticity in response to season length. The lack of a predictable pattern in response to hydroperiod may be due to gene flow or weak selection. We conclude that spatially structured populations can strongly differ in phenotypic plasticity even at microgeographic scales.  相似文献   

13.
In ectotherms, lower temperatures in high-latitude environments would theoretically reduce the annual growth rates of individuals. If slower growth and resultant smaller body size reduce fitness, individuals in higher latitudes may evolve compensatory responses. Two alternative models of such latitudinal compensation are possible: Model I: thermal reaction norms for growth rates of high-latitude individuals may be horizontally shifted to a lower range of temperatures, or Model II: reaction norms may be vertically shifted so that high-latitude individuals can grow faster across all temperatures. Model I is expected when annual growth rates in the wild are only a function of environmental temperatures, whereas Model II is expected when individuals in higher latitudes can only grow during a shorter period of a year. A variety of mixed strategies of these two models are also possible, and the magnitude of horizontal versus vertical variation in reaction norms among latitudinal populations will be indicative of the importance of "temperature" versus "seasonality" in the evolution of latitudinal compensation. However, the form of latitudinal compensation may be affected by possible genetic constraints due to the genetic architecture of reaction norms. In this study, we examine the inter- and intrapopulation variations in thermal reaction norms for growth rate of the medaka fish Oryzias latipes. Common-environment experiments revealed that average reaction norms differed primarily in elevation among latitudinal populations in a manner consistent with Model II (adaptation to "seasonality"), suggesting that natural selection in high latitudes prefers individuals that grow faster even within a shorter growing season to individuals that have longer growing seasons by growing at lower temperatures. However, intrapopulation variation in reaction norms was also vertical: some full-sibling families grew faster than others across all temperatures examined. This tendency in intrapopulation genetic variation for thermal reaction norms may have restricted the evolution of latitudinal compensation, irrespective of the underlying selection pressure.  相似文献   

14.
Both the length of the growing season and the intensity of herbivory often vary along climatic gradients, which may result in divergent selection on plant phenology, and on resistance and tolerance to herbivory. In Sweden, the length of the growing season and the number of insect herbivore species feeding on the perennial herb Lythrum salicaria decrease from south to north. Previous common‐garden experiments have shown that northern L. salicaria populations develop aboveground shoots earlier in the summer and finish growth before southern populations do. We tested the hypotheses that resistance and tolerance to damage vary with latitude in L. salicaria and are positively related to the intensity of herbivory in natural populations. We quantified resistance and tolerance of populations sampled along a latitudinal gradient by scoring damage from natural herbivores and fitness in a common‐garden experiment in the field and by documenting oviposition and feeding preference by specialist leaf beetles in a glasshouse experiment. Plant resistance decreased with latitude of origin, whereas plant tolerance increased. Oviposition and feeding preference in the glasshouse and leaf damage in the common‐garden experiment were negatively related to damage in the source populations. The latitudinal variation in resistance was thus consistent with reduced selection from herbivores towards the northern range margin of L. salicaria. Variation in tolerance may be related to differences in the timing of damage in relation to the seasonal pattern of plant growth, as northern genotypes have developed further than southern have when herbivores emerge in early summer.  相似文献   

15.
Potential effects of future warming should be reflected in life history patterns of aquatic organisms observed in warmer climates or in habitats that are different in ambient temperature. In the special case of the dragonfly Gomphus vulgatissimus (L.) (Odonata: Gomphidae) previous research suggests that voltinism decreases from south to north. We analysed data on voltinism from 11 sample sites along a latitudinal gradient from about 44°N to 53°N, comprising small streams to medium-sized rivers. Furthermore, to simulate different conditions and to allow projections for future climate change scenarios, we developed a population dynamic model based on a projection matrix approach. The parameters of the model are dependent on temperature and day length. Our field results indicate a decrease in voltinism along the latitudinal gradient from southern to northern Europe and a corresponding increase of voltinism with higher temperatures. An increase in voltinism with width of the running water implies an effect of varying habitat temperature. Under the impact of global warming, our model predicts an increased development speed, particularly in the northern part of the latitudinal gradient, an extension of the northern range limit and changes in phenology of G. vulgatissimus , leading to an extension of the flight season in certain regions along the gradient.  相似文献   

16.
Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans chicks require 9–10 months to achieve adult body size at fledging, at which time they are also sexually size dimorphic. Because the developmental period spans the winter season, chicks must endure severe winter conditions and variability in provisioning effort by their parents. Thus chicks may adjust their rate of energy utilization to accommodate variations in provisioning, but this has not previously been studied. We followed longitudinally the changes in growth, body composition and oxygen consumption of 10 chicks from the end of the brooding period until fledging on the Crozet Islands. Body mass, culmen length and wing length were measured every 10 days and total body water (TBW) and resting metabolic rate (RMR) were measured monthly. Overall growth followed a logistic curve for all chicks, and sexual dimorphism in body mass appeared as early as the second month of measurements (males being heavier than females). Absolute TBW followed a logistic increase like that of body mass and was significantly higher in males owing to the difference in body mass. Conversely, mass-specific TBW (i.e. the proportion of body mass made up of water) did not differ significantly between male and female chicks. Absolute RMR peaked at 1.5 × adult basal metabolism in midwinter when chicks achieved maximum body mass, but decreased to adult levels by the time chicks fledged. The decrease in absolute RMR following attainment of peak mass is atypical of most seabird chicks (Procellariiformes) and may be explained partly by a reduction in size of the gut when parents reduce provisioning effort. The changes in mass-specific RMR did not differ between sexes but male chicks, being heavier, had higher absolute oxygen consumption and therefore greater energy requirements.  相似文献   

17.
Mass-specific metabolic rate, the rate at which organisms consume energy per gram of body weight, is negatively associated with body size in metazoans. As a consequence, small species have higher cellular metabolic rates and are able to process resources at a faster rate than large species. Since mass-specific metabolic rate has been shown to constrain evolution of sperm traits, and most of the metabolic activity of sperm cells relates to ATP production for sperm motility, we hypothesized that mass-specific metabolic rate could influence sperm energetic metabolism at the cellular level if sperm cells maintain the metabolic rate of organisms that generate them. We compared data on sperm straight-line velocity, mass-specific metabolic rate, and sperm ATP content from 40 mammalian species and found that the mass-specific metabolic rate positively influences sperm swimming velocity by (a) an indirect effect of sperm as the result of an increased sperm length, and (b) a direct effect independent of sperm length. In addition, our analyses show that species with higher mass-specific metabolic rate have higher ATP content per sperm and higher concentration of ATP per μm of sperm length, which are positively associated with sperm velocity. In conclusion, our results suggest that species with high mass-specific metabolic rate have been able to evolve both long and fast sperm. Moreover, independently of its effect on the production of larger sperm, the mass-specific metabolic rate is able to influence sperm velocity by increasing sperm ATP content in mammals.  相似文献   

18.
Argentine populations of Dichroplus elongatus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) are polymorphic for B chromosomes. Previous studies showed that B chromosomes affect body size and some fitness components in Northwestern populations. We studied phenotype and B′s variation patterns along a latitudinal cline as well as the relationship between karyotype and body size related traits in 17 populations from East. Body size related traits showed a ‘saw tooth’ pattern of variation being small at low and high latitudes and large at intermediate latitudes in most of the analysed populations. Analyses of variance and principal components demonstrated that in most analysed populations B carrier males are associated with a decrease in body size related traits with respect to individuals with standard karyotype. Accordingly with the relationship between karyotype and body size, an opposite pattern of latitudinal variation in the frequencies of B′s with respect to body size variation was observed in this area. i.e. smaller individuals tend to have a higher frequency of B chromosomes. The comparison of the differentiation of both karyotype and body size traits with molecular neutral markers demonstrated the relative importance of selection moulding chromosome and phenotype variation. The observed pattern of phenotypic variation is likely to be the result of local adaptation to season length along the latitudinal gradient. The observed contrary pattern of B′s clinal variation may reflect the population ability to maintain this chromosome in relation to the local adaptation. The available evidence indicates that the distribution of B chromosome frequency was shaped by selective factors.  相似文献   

19.
Body size of insects with flexible life cycles is expected to conform to the saw‐tooth model, a model in which the relationship between size and developmental time depends on length of the growing season. In species with high variability in terms of voltinism, however, more complex patterns can be expected. Few empirical studies have demonstrated the existence of such relationships, or whether climatic factors contribute to these relationships. In this study, we investigated the geographic variation in body size of the Chinese cockroach, Eupolyphaga sinensis Walker (Blattaria: Polyphagidae), which has a variable life cycle length. The sizes of adults – collected from 14 localities ranging from temperate to subtropical zones in China – were measured, using body length, body width, and pronotum width as parameters. The relationship between size, latitude, and climate factors (encompassing 10 variables) was then investigated. We found that the body size of E. sinensis varied considerably with latitude: cockroaches were larger at low and high latitudes, but smaller at intermediate latitudes. Thus, the relationship between climate and body size conformed to a saw‐tooth pattern. Results indicate that two factors were significantly associated with body size clines: season length and variability in life cycle length. Our results also demonstrated that climatic factors contribute to latitudinal clines in body size, which has important ecological and evolutionary implications. It can be expected that global climate change may alter latitudinal clines in body size of E. sinensis.  相似文献   

20.
We present a case study of metabolism, life history and aging in the western terrestrial garter snake (Thamnophis elegans). Early research in the field supported the rate-of-living hypothesis as an explanation of aging, which was based on an apparent negative relationship between mass-specific metabolic rate and lifespan in endotherms. This hypothesis in its original form has not withstood additional tests and comparisons between the two main lineages of endotherms-birds and mammals, but there is still much to be discovered of the causative links among rate of oxygen consumption, physiology and life history, particularly in ectothermic reptiles. We present data that show adult short-lived snakes, from naturally occurring ecotypes of garter snakes, have higher mass-specific resting metabolic rates at any given body mass (metabolic intensity) across a series of normal activity temperatures (15-32°C). The short-lived ecotype in this geographic region reaches a larger body size, and has life-history traits that place it at the fast end of a pace-of-life continuum (fast growth, early maturation, high reproductive output) relative to individuals of the small-bodied long-lived ecotype. The difference between ecotypes in metabolic intensity, even after acclimation to identical conditions, may reflect evolutionary divergence and genetic differences between ecotypes. The difference in metabolic intensity is not, however, present at birth, so an alternative is that developmental environment may permanently influence metabolic rate and life history. Such developmental canalization could lead to altered gene expression via environmental influences on the epigenome and result in altered metabolic trajectories in the snakes' natural habitats.  相似文献   

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