Growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( Ursus maritimus)
Data on the body length (cm) of polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ), collected as part of a long‐term ecological study in the Hudson Bay region of Canada, were examined to test the hypothesis that growth early in life influences adult body size. Data for 42 females and 30 males that were captured as two‐...
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Wiley
1996
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x 2024-06-02T08:07:53+00:00 Growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) Atkinson, S. N. Stirling, I. Ramsay, M. A. 1996 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Zoology volume 239, issue 2, page 225-234 ISSN 0952-8369 1469-7998 journal-article 1996 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x 2024-05-03T11:10:51Z Data on the body length (cm) of polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ), collected as part of a long‐term ecological study in the Hudson Bay region of Canada, were examined to test the hypothesis that growth early in life influences adult body size. Data for 42 females and 30 males that were captured as two‐year‐olds (2.6‐2.9 years), after the period of maternal care, and later recaptured as adults were analysed. On average, females increased in length by 11.2% and males by 23.1 % between captures. Relative adult body length was significantly correlated with relative length as a two‐year‐old in females but not in males. Thus, body length attained by two‐year‐olds is a weaker determinant of adult body length in males than in females. We suggest that, in comparison with females, prolonged growth beyond the period of maternal care may predispose the growth and eventual adult body size of male offspring to a greater degree of environmentally mediated variation. Furthermore, while data on maternal investment strategies in polar bears are lacking, variation in the allocation of maternal resources to cubs, within and among litters, may have a limited impact on the eventual adult body size of any surviving male offspring. Article in Journal/Newspaper Hudson Bay Ursus maritimus Wiley Online Library Canada Hudson Hudson Bay Journal of Zoology 239 2 225 234 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Data on the body length (cm) of polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ), collected as part of a long‐term ecological study in the Hudson Bay region of Canada, were examined to test the hypothesis that growth early in life influences adult body size. Data for 42 females and 30 males that were captured as two‐year‐olds (2.6‐2.9 years), after the period of maternal care, and later recaptured as adults were analysed. On average, females increased in length by 11.2% and males by 23.1 % between captures. Relative adult body length was significantly correlated with relative length as a two‐year‐old in females but not in males. Thus, body length attained by two‐year‐olds is a weaker determinant of adult body length in males than in females. We suggest that, in comparison with females, prolonged growth beyond the period of maternal care may predispose the growth and eventual adult body size of male offspring to a greater degree of environmentally mediated variation. Furthermore, while data on maternal investment strategies in polar bears are lacking, variation in the allocation of maternal resources to cubs, within and among litters, may have a limited impact on the eventual adult body size of any surviving male offspring. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Atkinson, S. N. Stirling, I. Ramsay, M. A. |
spellingShingle |
Atkinson, S. N. Stirling, I. Ramsay, M. A. Growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
author_facet |
Atkinson, S. N. Stirling, I. Ramsay, M. A. |
author_sort |
Atkinson, S. N. |
title |
Growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_short |
Growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_full |
Growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_fullStr |
Growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) |
title_sort |
growth in early life and relative body size among adult polar bears ( ursus maritimus) |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x |
geographic |
Canada Hudson Hudson Bay |
geographic_facet |
Canada Hudson Hudson Bay |
genre |
Hudson Bay Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Hudson Bay Ursus maritimus |
op_source |
Journal of Zoology volume 239, issue 2, page 225-234 ISSN 0952-8369 1469-7998 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05449.x |
container_title |
Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
239 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
225 |
op_container_end_page |
234 |
_version_ |
1800753027604283392 |