Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis
The proboscis of male elephant seals ( Mirounga Gray, 1827) has been suggested as an example of a secondary sexual trait since Darwin. There has been much speculation about its social function (e.g., optical signal of breeding status, amplification of vocalizations, cue for female choice). However,...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
2007
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z06-193 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/z06-193 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z06-193 |
id |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z06-193 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z06-193 2024-04-07T07:52:12+00:00 Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis Sanvito, Simona Galimberti, Filippo Miller, Edward H. 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z06-193 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/z06-193 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z06-193 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 85, issue 2, page 207-220 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2007 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z06-193 2024-03-08T00:37:33Z The proboscis of male elephant seals ( Mirounga Gray, 1827) has been suggested as an example of a secondary sexual trait since Darwin. There has been much speculation about its social function (e.g., optical signal of breeding status, amplification of vocalizations, cue for female choice). However, it has never been studied in detail, probably because its fleshy nature makes measurement difficult. In this paper, we employ photogrammetry to measure the proboscis and facial morphology of a large sample of wild, unrestrained, displaying male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina (L., 1758)). We describe ontogeny and allometry of the proboscis and analyze current phenotypic selection pressures on proboscis traits. We discuss the potential role of the proboscis in optical and acoustic signaling of male resource-holding potential and status. We demonstrate that proboscis size is positively correlated with age and body size independently, and that it is currently under a positive sexual selection pressure when the effect of selection on body size is removed. We suggest that selection on proboscis size is functionally related to the emission of agonistic vocalizations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 85 2 207 220 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Sanvito, Simona Galimberti, Filippo Miller, Edward H. Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
The proboscis of male elephant seals ( Mirounga Gray, 1827) has been suggested as an example of a secondary sexual trait since Darwin. There has been much speculation about its social function (e.g., optical signal of breeding status, amplification of vocalizations, cue for female choice). However, it has never been studied in detail, probably because its fleshy nature makes measurement difficult. In this paper, we employ photogrammetry to measure the proboscis and facial morphology of a large sample of wild, unrestrained, displaying male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina (L., 1758)). We describe ontogeny and allometry of the proboscis and analyze current phenotypic selection pressures on proboscis traits. We discuss the potential role of the proboscis in optical and acoustic signaling of male resource-holding potential and status. We demonstrate that proboscis size is positively correlated with age and body size independently, and that it is currently under a positive sexual selection pressure when the effect of selection on body size is removed. We suggest that selection on proboscis size is functionally related to the emission of agonistic vocalizations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sanvito, Simona Galimberti, Filippo Miller, Edward H. |
author_facet |
Sanvito, Simona Galimberti, Filippo Miller, Edward H. |
author_sort |
Sanvito, Simona |
title |
Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis |
title_short |
Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis |
title_full |
Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis |
title_fullStr |
Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis |
title_sort |
having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z06-193 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/z06-193 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z06-193 |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 85, issue 2, page 207-220 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z06-193 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
85 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
207 |
op_container_end_page |
220 |
_version_ |
1795667414629744640 |