Seasonal reversible size changes in the braincase and mass of common shrews are flexibly modified by environmental conditions
Seasonal reversible size changes in the braincase and mass of common shrews are flexibly modified by environmental conditions
Loading...
Date
2019
Authors
Editors
Journal ISSN
Electronic ISSN
ISBN
Bibliographical data
Publisher
Series
URI (citable link)
DOI (citable link)
International patent number
Link to the license
EU project number
Project
Open Access publication
Collections
Title in another language
Publication type
Journal article
Publication status
Published
Published in
Scientific Reports ; 9 (2019), 1. - 2489. - eISSN 2045-2322
Abstract
The growth of the vertebrate skull and brain is usually unidirectional and more or less stops when animals are adult. Red-toothed shrews break this rule. They seasonally shrink and regrow brain and skull size by 20% or more, presumably to save energy when conditions are harsh. The size change is anticipatory of environmental change and occurs in all individuals, but it is unknown whether its extent can be modulated by environmental conditions. We kept shrews under different conditions, monitored seasonal changes in skull size with series of X-rays, and compared them with free ranging animals. We found extensive differences in the pattern of skull size change between experimental groups. Skull size of shrews kept at constant temperature showed a steady decline, while the skull size changes of free ranging shrews and captive individuals exposed to natural temperature regimes were identical. In contrast, body mass never reached the spring values of free ranging shrews in either captive regime. The extent of this adaptive seasonal pattern can thus be flexibly adapted to current environmental conditions. Combining reversible size changes with such strong phenotypic plasticity may allow these small, non-hibernating predators with high metabolic rates to continue being successful in today's changing environments.
Summary in another language
Subject (DDC)
570 Biosciences, Biology
Keywords
Conference
Review
undefined / . - undefined, undefined. - (undefined; undefined)
Cite This
ISO 690
LAZARO, Javier, Moritz HERTEL, Marion MUTURI, Dina K. N. DECHMANN, 2019. Seasonal reversible size changes in the braincase and mass of common shrews are flexibly modified by environmental conditions. In: Scientific Reports. 9(1), 2489. eISSN 2045-2322. Available under: doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-38884-1BibTex
@article{Lazaro2019-02-21Seaso-45780, year={2019}, doi={10.1038/s41598-019-38884-1}, title={Seasonal reversible size changes in the braincase and mass of common shrews are flexibly modified by environmental conditions}, number={1}, volume={9}, journal={Scientific Reports}, author={Lazaro, Javier and Hertel, Moritz and Muturi, Marion and Dechmann, Dina K. N.}, note={Article Number: 2489} }
RDF
<rdf:RDF xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:bibo="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/" xmlns:dspace="http://digital-repositories.org/ontologies/dspace/0.1.0#" xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/" xmlns:void="http://rdfs.org/ns/void#" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#" > <rdf:Description rdf:about="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/45780"> <dcterms:hasPart rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/45780/1/Lazaro_2-ibwp13sju2dv0.pdf"/> <dc:contributor>Lazaro, Javier</dc:contributor> <dc:contributor>Muturi, Marion</dc:contributor> <dc:contributor>Dechmann, Dina K. N.</dc:contributor> <dspace:isPartOfCollection rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/28"/> <dspace:hasBitstream rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/45780/1/Lazaro_2-ibwp13sju2dv0.pdf"/> <foaf:homepage rdf:resource="http://localhost:8080/"/> <dc:contributor>Hertel, Moritz</dc:contributor> <dcterms:issued>2019-02-21</dcterms:issued> <dcterms:title>Seasonal reversible size changes in the braincase and mass of common shrews are flexibly modified by environmental conditions</dcterms:title> <dc:creator>Muturi, Marion</dc:creator> <dcterms:abstract xml:lang="eng">The growth of the vertebrate skull and brain is usually unidirectional and more or less stops when animals are adult. Red-toothed shrews break this rule. They seasonally shrink and regrow brain and skull size by 20% or more, presumably to save energy when conditions are harsh. The size change is anticipatory of environmental change and occurs in all individuals, but it is unknown whether its extent can be modulated by environmental conditions. We kept shrews under different conditions, monitored seasonal changes in skull size with series of X-rays, and compared them with free ranging animals. We found extensive differences in the pattern of skull size change between experimental groups. Skull size of shrews kept at constant temperature showed a steady decline, while the skull size changes of free ranging shrews and captive individuals exposed to natural temperature regimes were identical. In contrast, body mass never reached the spring values of free ranging shrews in either captive regime. The extent of this adaptive seasonal pattern can thus be flexibly adapted to current environmental conditions. Combining reversible size changes with such strong phenotypic plasticity may allow these small, non-hibernating predators with high metabolic rates to continue being successful in today's changing environments.</dcterms:abstract> <dc:creator>Dechmann, Dina K. N.</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Lazaro, Javier</dc:creator> <bibo:uri rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/handle/123456789/45780"/> <dc:date rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2019-05-06T13:57:09Z</dc:date> <dc:creator>Hertel, Moritz</dc:creator> <dc:language>eng</dc:language> <dcterms:rights rdf:resource="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"/> <dc:rights>Attribution 4.0 International</dc:rights> <void:sparqlEndpoint rdf:resource="http://localhost/fuseki/dspace/sparql"/> <dcterms:available rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2019-05-06T13:57:09Z</dcterms:available> <dcterms:isPartOf rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/28"/> </rdf:Description> </rdf:RDF>
Internal note
xmlui.Submission.submit.DescribeStep.inputForms.label.kops_note_fromSubmitter
Examination date of dissertation
Method of financing
Comment on publication
Alliance license
Corresponding Authors der Uni Konstanz vorhanden
International Co-Authors
Bibliography of Konstanz
Yes
Refereed
Yes