Investigating the Relationship Between Body Shape and Life History Traits in Toothed Whales: Can Body Shape Predict Fast-Slow Life Histories?

ABSTRACT: A widespread pattern in vertebrate life-history evolution is for species to evolve towards either fast or slow life histories; however, the underlying causes of this pattern remain unclear. Toothed whales (Odontoceti) are a diverse group with a range of body sizes and life histories, making them an ideal model to investigate potential drivers of this dichotomy. Using ancestral reconstruction, we identified that certain groups of odontocetes evolved more-streamlined, presumably faster, body shapes around the same time that killer whales (Orcinus orca) evolved into whale predators approximately 1 Mya during the Pleistocene. This suggests that the evolution of a streamlined body shape may have been an adaptation to escape killer whale predation, leading to longer life-history events. T

SUBMITTER: Ferguson SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10415445 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature