Sexual dimorphism in size and shape of traits related to locomotion in nine anuran species from Serbia and Montenegro

Petrović, Tamara G.; Vukov, Tanja; Kolarov, Nataša Tomašević

doi:10.25225/fozo.v66.i1.a4.2017

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Yet little is known about patterns of sexual shape dimorphism in anurans and its relationship to jumping. While there is some evidence that jumping performance (Moen et al 2013) and hindlimb morphology (Petrović et al 2017) may be similar between sexes across some taxa, this has yet to be examined thoroughly in an allometric context. This, then, raises the question as to whether morphology and jumping performance have evolved differently in male and female anurans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Morphological Method to Approximate Jumping Performance in Anurans for Macroevolutionary Studies

2020

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Organismal performance is often key in understanding macroevolutionary patterns but characterizing performance across many species is challenging, as the disparate geographic locations of taxa often prohibit in vivo measures. In theory, however, inferences on the evolution of performance could be investigated using anatomical approximations of performance parameters, allowing for a wider range of species to be sampled. In this study, we use biological and physical principles to mathematically derive three size-standardized anatomical approximations for three different aspects of jumping performance at take-off in anurans: peak jumping velocity, energy, and power. We also describe several ways to parameterize these approximations using, for example, measurements of leg length, leg muscle mass, and body mass. We evaluate the efficacy of these approaches via comparison with direct size-standardized measures of jumping performance across 256 individuals from 51 anuran species. Using both phylogenetic and non-phylogenetic approaches, we find that two of the three anatomical approximations (velocity and energy) are highly correlated with in vivo measures, while a third (power) is not. This reveals that the former may serve as reliable estimates of those aspects of jumping performance, while the latter approximation does not capture all aspects of jumping power in anurans. We also report significant phylogenetic signal for the approximations, as found in in vivo measures. These analyses demonstrate the utility of anatomical approximations for use in macroevolutionary studies. Relative to in vivo laboratory methods, this new method allows for broad museum-based taxonomic surveys of jumping performance in anurans and possibly other jumping animals.Motivated by their example, we develop three size-standardized anatomical approximations for jumping performance to serve as estimates of three key aspects of jumping performance at take-off in anurans: peak velocity, energy, and power. Since these three performance measures commonly scale with body size (see e.g., Marsh and John-Alder 1994;Astley 2016), we account for this pattern by size-standardizing the approximations. Specifically, our concern is whether these may serve as reasonable approximations of the relative differences in jumping performance between species, and thus may serve as approximate measures of performance in macroevolutionary studies. Thus, we evaluate the efficacy of the sizestandardized approximations by comparing them with direct size-standardized measures of performance using a dataset containing 256 individuals and 51 species of anurans that span a broad range of morphological, ecological, and geographic diversity. We also describe several ways to parameterize these anatomical approximations to obtain precise estimates of jumping performance. In developing these approximations, we provide a new avenue for obtaining estimates of jumping performance, and we set the stage for future broad-scale macroevolutionary studies of jumping performance in anurans a...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Morphological Method to Approximate Jumping Performance in Anurans for Macroevolutionary Studies

2020

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“…Most anuran species in our sample were represented by one specimen only, and shape analyses were performed on the mean shapes of species. We did not consider sexual dimorphism, although this phenomenon has been reported for the humerus in some species (Lee, 2001; Padhye, Jadhav, Sulakhe, & Dahanukar, 2015; Petrović, Vukov, & Kolarov, 2017) and some muscles originating from the pectoral girdle (Emerson, 1990; Lee, 2001; Oka, Ohtani, Satou, & Ueda, 1984). Sexual dimorphism may, thus, be expected to occur in the pectoral girdle bones, too.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecomorphology of the pectoral girdle in anurans (Amphibia, Anura): Shape diversity and biomechanical considerations

Engelkes

Kath

Kleinteich³

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Frogs and toads (Lissamphibia: Anura) show a diversity of locomotor modes that allow them to inhabit a wide range of habitats. The different locomotor modes are likely to be linked to anatomical specializations of the skeleton within the typical frog Bauplan. While such anatomical adaptations of the hind limbs and the pelvic girdle are comparably well understood, the pectoral girdle received much less attention in the past. We tested for locomotor‐mode‐related shape differences in the pectoral girdle bones of 64 anuran species by means of micro‐computed‐tomography‐based geometric morphometrics. The pectoral girdles of selected species were analyzed with regard to the effects of shape differences on muscle moment arms across the shoulder joint and stress dissipation within the coracoid. Phylogenetic relationships, size, and locomotor behavior have an effect on the shape of the pectoral girdle in anurans, but there are differences in the relative impact of these factors between the bones of this skeletal unit. Remarkable shape diversity has been observed within locomotor groups indicating many‐to‐one mapping of form onto function. Significant shape differences have mainly been related to the overall pectoral girdle geometry and the shape of the coracoid. Most prominent shape differences have been found between burrowing and nonburrowing species with headfirst and backward burrowing species significantly differing from one another and from the other locomotor groups. The pectoral girdle shapes of burrowing species have generally larger moment arms for (simulated) humerus retractor muscles across the shoulder joint, which might be an adaptation to the burrowing behavior. The mechanisms of how the moment arms were enlarged differed between species and were associated with differences in the reaction of the coracoid to simulated loading by physiologically relevant forces.

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“…Amphibians are an appropriate group for the sexual dimorphism studies as the difference between males and females is evident for number of morphological features such as body size and shape and body coloration (Monnet & Cherry, 2002;Hoffman & Blouin, 2000;Bell & Zamudio, 2012;Zhang & Lu, 2013;Petrović et al, 2017;Vukov et al, 2018). For example, females are larger sex in 90% of anuran species as the larger body is correlated with higher fecundity (Shine, 1979).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ventral cranial size and shape variation between males and females of European brown frogs: Rana dalmatina, R. graeca and R. temporaria (Anura, Amphibia)

Krstičić-Račković¹,

Kolarov²,

Vukov³

2019

Univ thought Publ nat sci

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Sexual size and shape dimorphism is a very common phenomenon widely studied in the field of evolutionary biology. The differences between sexes are related to their life strategies and driven by the two evolutionary processes, sexual and natural selection. In amphibians, females are larger sex due to high correlation with fecundity, while dimorphism in body shape is often related to intrasexual competition for opposite sex during the breeding season. The main aim of this study is to describe patterns of ventral cranial size and shape variation between males and females of three species of European brown frogs, Rana dalmatina, R. graeca, R. temporaria, from the Balkan Peninsula. Our results showed that species R. dalmatina and R. graeca are sexually dimorphic for the ventral cranial size while species R. graeca and R. temporaria for the ventral cranial shape. Sexual dimorphism in cranial size is most probably an indirect consequence of natural selection favoring larger body for higher fecundity in explosive breeders like brown frogs. Cranial shape variation is under a strong influence of size variation but without allometric scaling between sexes. Sexual shape differences of analyzed brown frog species were most pronounced in the level of connection between cranium and jaw which indicate that differential diet of males and females can be a factor affecting observed sexual dimorphism patterns. More detailed studies of males and females microhabitats are necessary to conclude if differences in intersexual ecology affect intersexual size and shape differences in the cranium.

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Sexual dimorphism in size and shape of traits related to locomotion in nine anuran species from Serbia and Montenegro

Cited by 12 publications

References 33 publications

A Morphological Method to Approximate Jumping Performance in Anurans for Macroevolutionary Studies

A Morphological Method to Approximate Jumping Performance in Anurans for Macroevolutionary Studies

Ecomorphology of the pectoral girdle in anurans (Amphibia, Anura): Shape diversity and biomechanical considerations

The ventral cranial size and shape variation between males and females of European brown frogs: Rana dalmatina, R. graeca and R. temporaria (Anura, Amphibia)

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