No recent temporal changes in body size of three Danish rodents

• Autorzy: Yom-Tov Y. , Yom-Tov S. , Jensen T. S. , Baagoe H.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

We used museum collections to study temporal trends of possible changes in skull size, body mass and body length in three species of rodents in Denmark. Skulls of adult Microtus agrestis, Apodemus flavicollis and Apodemus sylvaticus, collected between 1895 and 2004, 1847 and 2002, and 1895 and 2002, respectively, were measured and data on body mass and length were taken from the museum registers. Principal component (PC) analysis was used to combine data of the four skull measurements taken. We tested the relationship of sex, latitude, longitude, month and year of collection to PC1 by a General Linear Model (GLM). PC1, body length and body mass of M. agrestis significantly increased from west to east. In addition, PC1, body mass and body length of M. agrestis declined from summer (August) through autumn and winter to spring (March), probably due to the decline in food availability towards winter. None of the other factors examined (sex, latitude and year) were significantly related to body size. PC1 of A. flavicollis and A. sylvaticus was not significantly related to any of the environmental factors examined.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

temporal change; body size; Danish rodent; rodent; Microtus agrestis; Apodemus flavicollis; Apodemus sylvaticus; environmental factor

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Acta Theriologica
• Rocznik: 2012
• Tom: 57
• Numer: 1
• Opis fizyczny: p.59-63,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Yom-Tov Y.

• Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel

autor

Yom-Tov S.

• Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel

autor

Jensen T. S.

• Natural History Museum, Aarhus, Denmark

autor

Baagoe H.

• Natural History Museum of Denmark and Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

Bibliografia

• Alcantara M (1991) Geographic variation in body size of the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus. Mamm Rev 21:143–150
• Gosler AG, Greenwood JJD, Perrins CM (1995) Predation risk and the cost of being fat. Nature 377:621–623
• Lindstrom J (1999) Early development and fitness in birds and mammals. Tren Ecol Evol 14:343–348
• Macdonald DW, Barrett P (1993) Mammals of Britain and Europe. HarperCollins, London
• Macdonald DW, Tattersall FT (2001) Britain's mammals—the challenge for conservation. The Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford University
• Mayr E (1970) Population, species and evolution. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
• McNab KB (2010) Geographic and temporal correlations of mammalian size reconsidered: a resource rule. Oecologia 164:13–23
• Meiri S, Guy D, Dayan T, Simberloff D (2009) Global change and carnivore body size: data are stasis. Glob Ecol Biog 18:240–247
• Mikulová P, Frynta D (2001) Test of character displacement in urban populations of Apodemus sylvaticus. Canad J Zool 79:794–801
• Millien V, Lyons SK, Olson L, Smith FA, Wilson AB, Yom-Tov Y (2006) Ecotypic variation in the context of global climate change: revisiting the rules. Ecol Lett 9:853–869
• Pergams ORW, Ashley MV (2001) Microevolution in island rodents. Genetica 112–113:245–256
• Schmidt NM, Jensen PM (2003) Changes in mammalian body length over 175 years—adaptations to a fragmented landscape? Conser Ecol 7:6, http://​www.​consecol.​org/​vol7/​iss2/​art6/​
• Smith FA, Browning H, Shepherd UL (1998) The influence of climate change on the body mass of woodrats Neotoma in arid region of New Mexico, USA. Ecography 21:140–148
• Wójcik AM, Polly PD, Sikorski MD, Wójcik JM (2006) Selection in a cycling population: differential response among skeletal traits. Evolution 60:1925–1935
• Yom-Tov Y, Geffen E (2011) Recent spatial and temporal changes in body size of terrestrial vertebrates: probable causes and pitfalls. Biol Rev 86:531–541
• Yom-Tov Y, Green W, Coleman J (1986) Morphological changes in the brush-tail possum in New Zealand. J Zool London 208:583–593
• Yom-Tov Y, Yom-Tov S, Baagøe H (2003) Increase of skull size in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and Eurasian badger (Meles meles) in Denmark during the twentieth century: an effect of improved diet? Evol Ecol Res 5:1037–1048
• Yom-Tov Y, Yom-Tov S, Wright J, Thorne CJR, Du Feu R (2006) Recent changes in body weight and wing length among some British passerine birds. Oikos 112:91–101
• Yom-Tov Y, Leader N, Yom-Tov S, Baagøe HJ (2010) Temperature trends and recent decline in body size of the stone marten Martes foina in Denmark. Mamm Biol 75:146–150