期刊
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
卷 8, 期 1, 页码 645-654出版社
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3686
关键词
body size; elevational variation; growth rate; Phrynocephalus vlangalii; Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
资金
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [31670399]
- China Scholarship Council
Body size is directly linked to key life history traits such as growth, fecundity, and survivorship. Identifying the causes of body size variation is a critical task in ecological and evolutionary research. Body size variation along altitudinal gradients has received considerable attention; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we compared the growth rate and age structure of toad-headed lizards (Phrynocephalus vlangalii) from two populations found at different elevations in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We used mark-recapture and skeletochronological analysis to identify the potential proximate causes of altitudinal variation in body size. Lizards from the high-elevation site had higher growth rates and attained slightly larger adult body sizes than lizards from the low-elevation site. However, newborns produced by high-elevation females were smaller than those by low-elevation females. Von Bertalanffy growth estimates predicted high-elevation individuals would reach sexual maturity at an earlier age and have a lower mean age than low-elevation individuals. Relatively lower mean age for the high-elevation population was confirmed using the skeletochronological analysis. These results support the prediction that a larger adult body size of high-elevation P.vlangalii results from higher growth rates, associated with higher resource availability.
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