Dead mice can grow – variation of standard external mammal measurements from live and three postmortem body states

Stephens, Ryan B.; Karau, Krishun H.; Yahnke, Christopher J.; Wendt, Sara R.; Rowe, Rebecca J.

doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyu022

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Our results also indicate that future research with Cape grounds squirrels cannot confidently use foot length as an indication of overall body size. Rather these studies should use a standardized measure of body length such as spine length, skull length or head‐body length to minimize residual and observer error (Stephens et al ., 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not playing by the rules: mixed support of ecogeographic rules in an arid‐adapted African ground squirrel

LaFlèche

Waterman

2020

Journal of Zoology

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Body size impacts nearly all aspects of an animal's life and can be subject to considerable variation in response to differences in climate and resource availability. We studied the impact of temperature and resource availability on arid-living Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris), relative to body size and degree of sexual dimorphism, over three locations differing in annual rainfall and temperature to test Bergmann's rule, the resource rule and Rensch's rule. We found that squirrels were the largest where resources were the highest and temperatures were the lowest but squirrels were similar in mass where resources were medium or low and temperatures medium and highest, partially supporting Bergmann's rule and the resource rule. Hind-feet were the largest where resources were medium and temperatures were medium and similarly small in low and high resource and high-and low-temperature areas. The degree of sexual dimorphism of hind-foot and mass was constant no matter the resource abundance or temperature, suggesting no impact of resource availability or temperature on the degree of sexual dimorphism, contradicting Rensch's rule. Our findings suggest that, while resource availability and temperature may have an impact on body size, other mechanisms may be important in limiting both body size and degree of sexual dimorphism in this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not playing by the rules: mixed support of ecogeographic rules in an arid‐adapted African ground squirrel

LaFlèche

Waterman

2020

Journal of Zoology

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“…Increased differences between dorsal and ventral lengths of the spine arise in kyphosis due to ventral wedging of the vertebral bodies (Li et al 2017). Unlike graphical methods that estimate the severity of spinal deformity by measuring the angle between the endplates of the most tilted vertebrae (Cobb's angle), the chosen approach is independent of the position assumed by the mice during image acquisition and is thus insensitive to postural adjustments occurring postmortem due to any change in muscle tone (Stephens et al 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absence of LTBP-3 attenuates the aneurysmal phenotype but not spinal effects on the aorta in Marfan syndrome

Korneva

Zilberberg

Rifkin

et al. 2018

Biomech Model Mechanobiol

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Fibrillin-1 is an elastin-associated glycoprotein that contributes to the long term fatigue resistance of elastic fibers as well as to the bioavailability of transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) in arteries. Altered TGFβ bioavailability and/or signaling have been implicated in aneurysm development in Marfan syndrome (MFS), a multi-system condition resulting from mutations to the gene that encodes fibrillin-1. We recently showed that absence of the latent transforming growth factor beta binding protein-3 (LTBP-3) in fibrillin-1 deficient mice attenuates the fragmentation of elastic fibers and focal dilatations that are characteristic of aortic root aneurysms in MFS mice, at least to 12 weeks of age. Here, we show further that absence of LTBP-3 in this MFS mouse model improves the circumferential mechanical properties of the thoracic aorta, which appears to be fundamental in preventing or significantly delaying aneurysm development. Yet, a spinal deformity either remains or is exacerbated in the absence of LTBP-3 and seems to adversely affect the axial mechanical properties of the thoracic aorta, thus decreasing overall vascular function despite the absence of aneurysmal dilatation. Importantly, because of the smaller size of mice lacking LTBP-3, allometric scaling facilitates proper interpretation of aortic dimensions and thus the clinical phenotype. While this study demonstrates that LTBP-3/TGFβ directly affects the biomechanical function of the thoracic aorta, it highlights that spinal deformities in MFS might indirectly and adversely affect the overall aortic phenotype. There is a need, therefore, to consider together the vascular and skeletal effects in this syndromic disease.

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“…The third dataset (D3) was a subset of D2 that included HFL and EL measurements from adults aged based on their dentition or gonads measured by a single collector (MTRH, N = 35 for HFL, N = 34 for EL). With the creation of D2 and D3 we tried to reduce potential observer bias, live/ postmortem stage variation, and ontogeny-associated errors [46,47]. The fourth dataset (D4) included external measurements (weight, HBL, TL, and EL) of adults aged by any of the methods previously described plus all individuals from Sabah Museum collection, for which we did not have information regarding age (N = 374, pregnant females were excluded).…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging ecogeographical rules: Phenotypic variation in the Mountain Treeshrew (Tupaia montana) along tropical elevational gradients

Hinckley

Sánchez-Donoso²,

Comas³

et al. 2022

PLoS ONE

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Bergmann’s and Allen’s rules were defined to describe macroecological patterns across latitudinal gradients. Bergmann observed a positive association between body size and latitude for endothermic species while Allen described shorter appendages as latitude increases. Almost two centuries later, there is still ongoing discussion about these patterns. Temperature, the common variable in these two rules, varies predictably across both latitude and elevation. Although these rules have been assessed extensively in mammals across latitude, particularly in regions with strong seasonality, studies on tropical montane mammals are scarce. We here test for these patterns and assess the variation of several other locomotory, diet-associated, body condition, and thermoregulatory traits across elevation in the Mountain Treeshrew (Tupaia montana) on tropical mountains in Borneo. Based on morphological measurements from both the field and scientific collections, we found a complex pattern: Bergmann’s rule was not supported in our tropical mountain system, since skull length, body size, and weight decreased from the lowest elevations (<1000 m) to middle elevations (2000–2500 m), and then increased from middle elevations to highest elevations. Allen’s rule was supported for relative tail length, which decreased with elevation, but not for ear and hindfoot length, with the former remaining constant and the latter increasing with elevation. This evidence together with changes in presumed diet-related traits (rostrum length, zygomatic breadth and upper tooth row length) along elevation suggest that selective pressures other than temperature, are playing a more important role shaping the morphological variation across the distribution of the Mountain Treeshrew. Diet, food acquisition, predation pressure, and/or intra- and inter-specific competition, are some of the potential factors driving the phenotypic variation of this study system. The lack of variation in body condition might suggest local adaptation of this species across its elevational range, perhaps due to generalist foraging strategies. Finally, a highly significant temporal effect was detected in several traits but not in others, representing the first phenotypic variation temporal trends described on treeshrews.

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Dead mice can grow – variation of standard external mammal measurements from live and three postmortem body states

Cited by 14 publications

References 34 publications

Not playing by the rules: mixed support of ecogeographic rules in an arid‐adapted African ground squirrel

Not playing by the rules: mixed support of ecogeographic rules in an arid‐adapted African ground squirrel

Absence of LTBP-3 attenuates the aneurysmal phenotype but not spinal effects on the aorta in Marfan syndrome

Challenging ecogeographical rules: Phenotypic variation in the Mountain Treeshrew (Tupaia montana) along tropical elevational gradients

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