Offspring size and timing of hatching determine survival and reproductive output in a lizard

Uller, Tobias; Olsson, Mats

doi:10.1007/s00442-009-1503-x

Cited by 56 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 80 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Offspring size had no detectable influence on age at recruitment. Nevertheless, large female offspring had better survival and were both longer and heavier at primiparity than smaller ones, as also reported in lizards (Uller and Olsson 2010). Females that were larger at weaning also gave birth to heavier pups, but the effects were small in all cases.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Offspring size at weaning affects survival to recruitment and reproductive performance of primiparous gray seals

Bowen

Heyer

McMillan

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Offspring size affects survival and subsequent reproduction in many organisms. However, studies of offspring size in large mammals are often limited to effects on juveniles because of the difficulty of following individuals to maturity. We used data from a long-term study of individually marked gray seals (Halichoerus grypus; Fabricius, 1791) to test the hypothesis that larger offspring have higher survival to recruitment and are larger and more successful primiparous mothers than smaller offspring. Between 1998 and 2002, 1182 newly weaned female pups were branded with unique permanent marks on Sable Island, Canada. Each year through 2012, all branded females returning to the breeding colony were identified in weekly censuses and a subset were captured and measured. Females that survived were significantly longer offspring than those not sighted, indicating size-selective mortality between weaning and recruitment. The probability of female survival to recruitment varied among cohorts and increased nonlinearly with body mass at weaning. Beyond 51.5 kg (mean population weaning mass) weaning mass did not influence the probability of survival. The probability of female survival to recruitment increased monotonically with body length at weaning. Body length at primiparity was positively related to her body length and mass at weaning. Three-day postpartum mass (proxy for birth mass) of firstborn pups was also positively related to body length of females when they were weaned. However, females that were longer or heavier when they were weaned did not wean heavier firstborn offspring.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…1999; Beauplet et al. 2006; Uller and Olsson 2010). Our results showed that gray seal females that survived to recruitment and were sighted on Sable Island during the breeding season were, on average, 1.5 cm longer as weaned offspring than females that were not sighted lending further support to the bigger-is-better hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Offspring size at weaning affects survival to recruitment and reproductive performance of primiparous gray seals

Bowen

Heyer

McMillan

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Chamaille-Jammes et al , 2006;Warner and Shine, 2007;Uller and Olsson, 2010) including in N. ocellatus Uller et al, 2011), the focus of this study. Therefore, there may be selection on female basking behaviour to buffer against the potentially negative effects of reduced basking opportunity on offspring phenotype.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Geographical differences in maternal basking behaviour and offspring growth rate in a climatically widespread viviparous reptile

Cadby

Jones

Wapstra

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In reptiles, the thermal environment during embryonic development affects offspring phenotypic traits and potentially offspring fitness. In viviparous species, mothers can potentially manipulate the embryonic thermal environment through their basking behaviour and, thus, may be able to manipulate offspring phenotype and increase offspring fitness. One way in which mothers can maximise offspring phenotype (and thus potentially affect offspring fitness) is by fine-tuning their basking behaviour to the environment in order to buffer the embryo from deleterious developmental temperatures. In widespread species, it is unclear whether populations that have evolved under different climatic conditions will exhibit different maternal behaviours and/or thermal effects on offspring phenotype. To test this, we provided extended or reduced basking opportunity to gravid spotted skinks (Niveoscincus ocellatus) and their offspring from two populations at the climatic extremes of the species' distribution. Gravid females finetuned their basking behaviour to the basking opportunity, which allowed them to buffer their embryos from potentially negative thermal effects. This fine-tuning of female basking behaviour appears to have led to the expression of geographical differences in basking behaviour, with females from the cold alpine regions being more opportunistic in their basking behaviour than females from the warmer regions. However, those differences in maternal behaviour did not preclude the evolution of geographic differences in thermal effects: offspring growth varied between populations, potentially suggesting local adaptation to basking conditions. Our results demonstrate that maternal effects and phenotypic plasticity can play a significant role in allowing species to cope in changing environmental conditions, which is particularly relevant in the context of climate change. KEY WORDS: Maternal effect, Maternal buffering, Climate change, Phenotypic plasticity, Population, Spotted skink INTRODUCTIONMaternal effects are the interactions between a mother and her offspring that affect offspring phenotype independently of the mother's genetic contribution. They have been described as being highly dynamic, and they vary in direction and strength depending on the environment or the context (Uller, 2008;Plaistow and Benton, 2009 et al., 2011). However, perhaps more overlooked is the fact that they can also vary between ultimate contexts (i.e. the environmental conditions under which they have evolved) and may in some cases become locally adapted (Ghalambor et al., 2007;Hof et al., 2011;Hoffmann and Sgrò, 2011). Typically, we would expect to see local adaptation in maternal effects in widespread species in which the immediate maternal environment differs consistently between populations (e.g. Räsänen et al., 2005;Doody et al., 2006;Doody, 2009).In reptiles, the temperature experienced by embryos during development can affect numerous phenotypic traits such as date of birth, size at birth, sex, locomotor performance or beh...

show abstract

“…There is a weak positive relationship between juvenile size and survival in the common lizard [63]; yet, in our study, juveniles from reduced litters did not show higher survival rates. Nevertheless, being larger gives undeniable advantages later in life as size is often correlated with age at maturity and with litter size for adult females [56,70]. Thus, if the difference in size persists long enough, juveniles from reduced litters may be more competitive adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental litter size reduction reveals costs of gestation and delayed effects on offspring in a viviparous lizard

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Experimental studies have often been employed to study costs of reproduction, but rarely to study costs of gestation. Disentangling the relative importance of each stage of the reproductive cycle should help to assess the costs and benefits of different reproductive strategies. To that end, we experimentally reduced litter size during gestation in a viviparous lizard. We measured physiological and behavioural parameters during gestation and shortly after parturition, as well as survival and growth of females and their offspring. This study showed four major results. First, the experimental litter size reduction did not significantly affect the cellular immune response, the metabolism and the survival of adult females. Second, females with reduced litter size decreased their basking time. Third, these females also had an increased postpartum body condition. As postpartum body condition is positively related to future reproduction, this result indicates a gestation cost. Fourth, even though offspring from experimentally reduced litters had similar weight and size at birth as other offspring, their growth rate after birth was significantly increased. This shows the existence of a maternal effect during gestation with delayed consequences. This experimental study demonstrates that there are some costs to gestation, but it also suggests that some classical trade-offs associated with reproduction may not be explained by gestation costs.

show abstract

Offspring size and timing of hatching determine survival and reproductive output in a lizard

Cited by 56 publications

References 80 publications

Offspring size at weaning affects survival to recruitment and reproductive performance of primiparous gray seals

Offspring size at weaning affects survival to recruitment and reproductive performance of primiparous gray seals

Geographical differences in maternal basking behaviour and offspring growth rate in a climatically widespread viviparous reptile

Experimental litter size reduction reveals costs of gestation and delayed effects on offspring in a viviparous lizard

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About