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Mainland size variation informs predictive models of exceptional insular body size change in rodents.

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Date
2015-07-07
Authors
Durst, PAP
Roth, VL
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Abstract
The tendency for island populations of mammalian taxa to diverge in body size from their mainland counterparts consistently in particular directions is both impressive for its regularity and, especially among rodents, troublesome for its exceptions. However, previous studies have largely ignored mainland body size variation, treating size differences of any magnitude as equally noteworthy. Here, we use distributions of mainland population body sizes to identify island populations as 'extremely' big or small, and we compare traits of extreme populations and their islands with those of island populations more typical in body size. We find that although insular rodents vary in the directions of body size change, 'extreme' populations tend towards gigantism. With classification tree methods, we develop a predictive model, which points to resource limitations as major drivers in the few cases of insular dwarfism. Highly successful in classifying our dataset, our model also successfully predicts change in untested cases.
Type
Journal article
Subject
biogeography
body size
decision tree
island
mammal
rodent
Animal Distribution
Animals
Biological Evolution
Body Size
Islands
Models, Biological
Rodentia
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10232
Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1098/rspb.2015.0239
Publication Info
Durst, PAP; & Roth, VL (2015). Mainland size variation informs predictive models of exceptional insular body size change in rodents. Proc Biol Sci, 282(1810). 10.1098/rspb.2015.0239. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10232.
This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Scholars@Duke

Roth

V. Louise Roth

Professor of Biology
In addition to conceptual work on the biological bases of homology, variation, and parallel evolution, my research has focused on evolutionary changes in size and shape in mammals: the functional consequences of these changes, and the evolutionary modifications of ontogenetic processes that produce them. This work makes use of DNA sequences, morphometric data, and geographic distributions to study macroevolutionary changes within a phylogenetic context. Projects have included DNA sequence phylog
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