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Cope’s Rule and the Universal Scaling Law of Ornament Complexity

Authors :
Maria Novosolov
R. Martínez
Pasquale Raia
Luciano Teresi
Shai Meiri
Francesco Carotenuto
Paolo Piras
Federico Passaro
Mattia Antonio Baiano
Leonardo Maiorino
Yuval Itescu
Mikael Fortelius
Raia, Pasquale
Passaro, Federico
Carotenuto, Francesco
Maiorino, Leonardo
Piras, Paolo
Teresi, Luciano
Meiri, Shai
Itescu, Yuval
Novosolov, Maria
Baiano, Mattia Antonio
Martínez, Ricard
Fortelius, Mikael
Maiorino, L.
Piras, P.
Teresi, L.
Meiri, S.
Itescu, Y.
Novosolov, M.
Baiano, M. A.
Martínez, R.
Fortelius, M.
Source :
RID-UNRN (UNRN), Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, instacron:UNRN, CONICET Digital (CONICET), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, instacron:CONICET
Publication Year :
2015

Abstract

Fil: Raia, Pasquale. Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Italia Fil: Passaro, Federico. Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Italia Fil: Carotenuto, Francesco. Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Italia Fil: Maiorino, Leonardo. Università degli Studi Roma Tre; Italia Fil: Piras, Paolo. Università degli Studi Roma Tre; Italia Fil: Teresi, Luciano. Università degli Studi Roma Tre; Italia Fil: Meiri, Shai. Tel Aviv University; Israel Fil: Itescu, Yuval. Tel Aviv University; Israel Fil: Novosolov, Maria. Tel Aviv University; Israel Fil: Baiano, Mattia A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fil: Baiano, Mattia A. Instituto Catalán de Paleontología Miquel Crusafont; España Fil: Baiano, Mattia A. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; Argentina Fil: Martínez, Ricard. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España Fil: Fortelius, Mikael. University Of Helsinski; Finlandia Luxuriant, bushy antlers, bizarre crests, and huge, twisting horns and tusks are conventionally understood as products of sexual selection. This view stems from both direct observation and from the empirical finding that the size of these structures grows faster than body size (i.e., ornament size shows positive allometry).We contend that the familiar evolutionary increase in the complexity of ornaments over time in many animal clades is decoupled from ornament size evolution. Increased body size comes with extended growth. Since growth scales to the quarter power of body size, we predicted that ornament complexity should scale according to the quarter power law as well, irrespective of the role of sexual selection in the evolution and function of the ornament. To test this hypothesis, we selected three clades (ammonites, deer, and ceratopsian dinosaurs) whose species bore ornaments that differ in terms of the importance of sexual selection to their evolution.We found that the exponent of the regression of ornament complexity to body size is the same for the three groups and is statistically indistinguishable from0.25.We suggest that the evolution of ornament complexity is a by-product of Cope’s rule. We argue that although sexual selection may control size in most ornaments, it does not influence their shape.

Details

Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
RID-UNRN (UNRN), Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, instacron:UNRN, CONICET Digital (CONICET), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, instacron:CONICET
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....d6fbe106362c4bd6fe794f3790ad71e0