Migratory life histories explain the extreme egg-size dimorphism of Eudyptes penguins.

ABSTRACT: When successive stages in the life history of an animal directly overlap, physiological conflicts can arise resulting in carryover effects from one stage to another. The extreme egg-size dimorphism (ESD) of Eudyptes penguins, where the first-laid A-egg is approximately 18-57% smaller than the second-laid B-egg, has interested researchers for decades. Recent studies have linked variation in this trait to a carryover effect of migration that limits the physiology of yolk production and egg sizes. We assembled data on ESD and estimates of migration-reproduction overlap in penguin species and use phylogenetic methods to test the idea that migration-reproduction overlap explains variation in ESD. We show that migration overlap is generally restricted to Eudyptes relative to non-Eudyptes penguin

SUBMITTER: Crossin GT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5069508 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature