How large should whales be?
The evolution and distribution of species body sizes for terrestrial mammals is well-explained by a macroevolutionary tradeoff between short-term selective advantages and long-term extinction risks from increased species body size, unfolding above the 2 g minimum size induced by thermoregulation in...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dababa45c66d428fa1ce235acb8cabe4 2023-05-15T15:45:13+02:00 How large should whales be? Aaron Clauset 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053967 https://doaj.org/article/dababa45c66d428fa1ce235acb8cabe4 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23342050/?tool=EBI https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053967 https://doaj.org/article/dababa45c66d428fa1ce235acb8cabe4 PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 1, p e53967 (2013) Medicine R Science Q article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053967 2022-12-31T07:44:54Z The evolution and distribution of species body sizes for terrestrial mammals is well-explained by a macroevolutionary tradeoff between short-term selective advantages and long-term extinction risks from increased species body size, unfolding above the 2 g minimum size induced by thermoregulation in air. Here, we consider whether this same tradeoff, formalized as a constrained convection-reaction-diffusion system, can also explain the sizes of fully aquatic mammals, which have not previously been considered. By replacing the terrestrial minimum with a pelagic one, at roughly 7000 g, the terrestrial mammal tradeoff model accurately predicts, with no tunable parameters, the observed body masses of all extant cetacean species, including the 175,000,000 g Blue Whale. This strong agreement between theory and data suggests that a universal macroevolutionary tradeoff governs body size evolution for all mammals, regardless of their habitat. The dramatic sizes of cetaceans can thus be attributed mainly to the increased convective heat loss is water, which shifts the species size distribution upward and pushes its right tail into ranges inaccessible to terrestrial mammals. Under this macroevolutionary tradeoff, the largest expected species occurs where the rate at which smaller-bodied species move up into large-bodied niches approximately equals the rate at which extinction removes them. Article in Journal/Newspaper Blue whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 8 1 e53967 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Aaron Clauset How large should whales be? |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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The evolution and distribution of species body sizes for terrestrial mammals is well-explained by a macroevolutionary tradeoff between short-term selective advantages and long-term extinction risks from increased species body size, unfolding above the 2 g minimum size induced by thermoregulation in air. Here, we consider whether this same tradeoff, formalized as a constrained convection-reaction-diffusion system, can also explain the sizes of fully aquatic mammals, which have not previously been considered. By replacing the terrestrial minimum with a pelagic one, at roughly 7000 g, the terrestrial mammal tradeoff model accurately predicts, with no tunable parameters, the observed body masses of all extant cetacean species, including the 175,000,000 g Blue Whale. This strong agreement between theory and data suggests that a universal macroevolutionary tradeoff governs body size evolution for all mammals, regardless of their habitat. The dramatic sizes of cetaceans can thus be attributed mainly to the increased convective heat loss is water, which shifts the species size distribution upward and pushes its right tail into ranges inaccessible to terrestrial mammals. Under this macroevolutionary tradeoff, the largest expected species occurs where the rate at which smaller-bodied species move up into large-bodied niches approximately equals the rate at which extinction removes them. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Aaron Clauset |
author_facet |
Aaron Clauset |
author_sort |
Aaron Clauset |
title |
How large should whales be? |
title_short |
How large should whales be? |
title_full |
How large should whales be? |
title_fullStr |
How large should whales be? |
title_full_unstemmed |
How large should whales be? |
title_sort |
how large should whales be? |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053967 https://doaj.org/article/dababa45c66d428fa1ce235acb8cabe4 |
genre |
Blue whale |
genre_facet |
Blue whale |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 1, p e53967 (2013) |
op_relation |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23342050/?tool=EBI https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053967 https://doaj.org/article/dababa45c66d428fa1ce235acb8cabe4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053967 |
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PLoS ONE |
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e53967 |
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