Mainland size variation informs predictive models of exceptional insular body size change in rodents.
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 articleSubject
biogeographybody size
decision tree
island
mammal
rodent
Animal Distribution
Animals
Biological Evolution
Body Size
Islands
Models, Biological
Rodentia
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10232Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1098/rspb.2015.0239Publication 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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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
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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