Body size is a key factor that influences antipredator behavior. For animals that rely on jumping to escape from predators, there is a theoretical trade‐off between jump distance and acceleration as body size changes at both the inter‐ and intraspecific levels. Assuming geometric similarity, acceleration will decrease with increasing body size due to a smaller increase in muscle cross‐sectional area than body mass. Smaller animals will likely have a similar jump distance as larger animals due to their shorter limbs and faster accelerations. Therefore, in order to maintain acceleration in a jump across different body sizes, hind limbs must be disproportionately bigger for larger animals. We explored this prediction using four species of kangaroo rats (
In many organisms, juveniles have performance capabilities that partly offset their disadvantageous sizes. Using high‐speed video recordings and imaging software, we measured the scaling of head morphology, axial morphology, and defensive strike performance of
- PAR ID:
- 10121494
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology
- Volume:
- 333
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2471-5638
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 96-103
- Size(s):
- p. 96-103
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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