Limb length and poison glands size as predictors of anti-predatory performance in South American true toads

Mariotto, Lucas Ribeiro; Bars‐Closel, Melissa; Kohlsdorf, Tiana

doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2021.11.006

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…This is due to the strong link between the different locomotory modes and the anatomy of the body structures responsible for them. For instance, leg length in jumping insects [15], wing size in flying insects [16], fin size in fish [17,18], limb length in terrestrial amphibians [19,20], reptiles [21,22], and mammals [23,24], and wing size in flying birds [25,26] are positively correlated with the locomotor performance of their bearers. Therefore, sexual dimorphism in traits involved in locomotion, related or not to reproduction itself, may drive divergent relationships between morphology and locomotor performance between males and females [27,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological Correlates of Locomotion in the Aquatic and the Terrestrial Phases of Pleurodeles waltl Newts from Southwestern Iberia

Zamora‐Camacho

2023

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Animals capable of moving in different environments might face conflicting selection on morphology, thus posing trade-offs on the relationships between morphology and locomotor performance in each of these environments. Moreover, given the distinct ecological roles of the sexes, these relationships can be sexually dimorphic. In this article, I studied the relationships between morphological traits and locomotor performance in male and female semiaquatic Pleurodeles waltl newts in their aquatic and their terrestrial stages. Morphology was sexually dimorphic: males have proportionally longer limbs and tails, as well as a better body condition (only in the aquatic phase), whereas females were larger and had greater body mass in both phases. Nonetheless, these morphological differences did not translate into sexual divergence in locomotor performance in either stage. This finding suggests other functions for the morphological traits measured, among which only SVL showed a positive relationship with locomotor performance in both stages, whereas the effect of SMI was negative only in the terrestrial stage, and that of tail length was positive only in the aquatic stage. In any case, the morphological correlates of terrestrial and aquatic locomotion did not conflict, which suggests no trade-off between both locomotory modes in the newts studied.

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