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Abstract Size at the start of life reflects the initial per offspring parental investment—including both the embryo and the nutrients supplied to it. Initial offspring size can vary substantially, both within and among species. Within species, increasing offspring size can enhance growth, reproduction, competitive ability, and reduce susceptibility to predation and starvation later in life, that can ultimately increase fitness. Previous work has suggested that the fitness benefits of larger offspring size may be driven by energy expenditure during development—or how offspring metabolic rate scales with offspring size. Despite the importance of early-life energy expenditure in shaping later life fitness trajectories, consideration of among-species scaling of metabolic rate at the time of birth as a potential source of general metabolic scaling patterns has been overlooked by theory. Here, we review the patterns and processes of energy expenditure at the start of life when mortality is often greatest. We compile existing data on metabolic rate and offspring size for 191 ectotherm species spanning eight phyla and use phylogenetically controlled methods to quantify among-species scaling patterns. Across a 109-fold mass range, we find that offspring metabolic rate scales hypometrically with size, with an overall scaling exponent of 0.66. This exponent varies across ontogenetic stage and feeding activity, but is consistently hypometric, including across environmental temperatures. Despite differences in parental investment, life history and habitat, large-offspring species use relatively less energy as a proportion of size, compared with small-offspring species. Greater residual energy can be used to fuel the next stages of life, particularly in low-resource environments. Based on available evidence, we conclude that, while large knowledge gaps remain, the evolution of offspring size is likely shaped by context-dependent selection acting on correlated traits, including metabolic rates maintaining hypometric scaling, which operates within broader physical constraints.more » « less
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Abstract Larger animals studied during ontogeny, across populations, or across species, usually have lower mass-specific metabolic rates than smaller animals (hypometric scaling). This pattern is usually observed regardless of physiological state (e.g., basal, resting, field, and maximally active). The scaling of metabolism is usually highly correlated with the scaling of many life-history traits, behaviors, physiological variables, and cellular/molecular properties, making determination of the causation of this pattern challenging. For across-species comparisons of resting and locomoting animals (but less so for across populations or during ontogeny), the mechanisms at the physiological and cellular level are becoming clear. Lower mass-specific metabolic rates of larger species at rest are due to (a) lower contents of expensive tissues (brains, liver, and kidneys), and (b) slower ion leak across membranes at least partially due to membrane composition, with lower ion pump ATPase activities. Lower mass-specific costs of larger species during locomotion are due to lower costs for lower-frequency muscle activity, with slower myosin and Ca++ ATPase activities, and likely more elastic energy storage. The evolutionary explanation(s) for hypometric scaling remain(s) highly controversial. One subset of evolutionary hypotheses relies on constraints on larger animals due to changes in geometry with size; for example, lower surface-to-volume ratios of exchange surfaces may constrain nutrient or heat exchange, or lower cross-sectional areas of muscles and tendons relative to body mass ratios would make larger animals more fragile without compensation. Another subset of hypotheses suggests that hypometric scaling arises from biotic interactions and correlated selection, with larger animals experiencing less selection for mass-specific growth or neurolocomotor performance. An additional third type of explanation comes from population genetics. Larger animals with their lower effective population sizes and subsequent less effective selection relative to drift may have more deleterious mutations, reducing maximal performance and metabolic rates. Resolving the evolutionary explanation for the hypometric scaling of metabolism and associated variables is a major challenge for organismal and evolutionary biology. To aid progress, we identify some variation in terminology use that has impeded cross-field conversations on scaling. We also suggest that promising directions for the field to move forward include (1) studies examining the linkages between ontogenetic, population-level, and cross-species allometries; (2) studies linking scaling to ecological or phylogenetic context; (3) studies that consider multiple, possibly interacting hypotheses; and (4) obtaining better field data for metabolic rates and the life history correlates of metabolic rate such as lifespan, growth rate, and reproduction.