Skip Navigation

Integrative and Comparative Biology 2004 44(6):498-509; doi:10.1093/icb/44.6.498
© 2004 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (38)
Right arrow Request Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Angilletta, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Sears, M. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Temperature, Growth Rate, and Body Size in Ectotherms: Fitting Pieces of a Life-History Puzzle1

Michael J. Angilletta, Jr.2,1, Todd D. Steury1 and Michael W. Sears3,1
1 Department of Ecology and Organismal Biology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana 47809

The majority of ectotherms grow slower but mature at a larger body size in colder environments. This phenomenon has puzzled biologists because classic theories of life-history evolution predict smaller sizes at maturity in environments that retard growth. During the last decade, intensive theoretical and empirical research has generated some plausible explanations based on nonadaptive or adaptive plasticity. Nonadaptive plasticity of body size is hypothesized to result from thermal constraints on cellular growth that cause smaller cells at higher temperatures, but the generality of this theory is poorly supported. Adaptive plasticity is hypothesized to result from greater benefits or lesser costs of delayed maturation in colder environments. These theories seem to apply well to some species but not others. Thus, no single theory has been able to explain the generality of temperature-size relationships in ectotherms. We recommend a multivariate theory that focuses on the coevolution of thermal reaction norms for growth rate and size at maturity. Such a theory should incorporate functional constraints on thermal reaction norms, as well as the natural covariation between temperature and other environmental variables.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
M. Gridi-Papp and P. M. Narins
Environmental influences in the evolution of tetrapod hearing sensitivity and middle ear tuning
Integr. Comp. Biol., December 1, 2009; 49(6): 702 - 716.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
E. Sperfeld and A. Wacker
Effects of temperature and dietary sterol availability on growth and cholesterol allocation of the aquatic keystone species Daphnia
J. Exp. Biol., October 1, 2009; 212(19): 3051 - 3059.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
G. Hunt and K. Roy
Climate change, body size evolution, and Cope's Rule in deep-sea ostracodes
PNAS, January 31, 2006; 103(5): 1347 - 1352.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
M. W. Sears and M. J. Angilletta Jr.
Body Size Clines in Sceloporus Lizards: Proximate Mechanisms and Demographic Constraints
Integr. Comp. Biol., December 1, 2004; 44(6): 433 - 442.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.