Consequently, we suggest that intersexual selection through female mate choice is unlikely to be a major factor driving the evolution of male red deer harsh roars. “
“Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil In certain lineages of tetrapods, latitude and climate relate to body size in agreement with Bergmann’s rule. Trends for squamates are ambiguous, even between selleck inhibitor genders within a species. Therefore, additional studies are

required before generalizations can be made, and attention is needed to the possibility that male and female experience distinct selective pressures and display different patterns. We examine body size in male and female Tropidurinae lizard species and test both Bergmann’s and Rensch’s rule, using phylogenetic comparative methods. We also analyze whether trends are better explained by latitude or climatic conditions. In Tropidurinae lizards, body size does not vary in accordance with Bergmann’s rule within the range of latitudes

studied. Therefore, within this range, tropidurines seem not to experience thermal constraints limiting activity time, and therefore growth and body size. Yet, female body size relates to rain selleck products patterns, expectedly linked to productivity, suggesting that this gender experiences a stronger tradeoff between energy allocated to growth and to reproduction. In Tropidurinae, males tend to be larger than females and sexual dimorphism is male biased, with an isometric relationship between both sexes that does not support Rensch’s rule. selleck compound “
“Unlike high-altitude Rhacophorus moltrechti breeding in spring and summer and middle-altitude populations breeding throughout

the year, one possible mechanism causing lowland populations to breed in winter may be that high summer temperatures at low altitudes are stressful for tadpoles and lowland populations so they breed in winter to avoid this stress. However, breeding in the winter, which is the dry season in Taiwan, causes high densities as the water bodies they breed in are smaller and more isolated. We tested whether high summer water temperatures impose a cost and high tadpole densities lead to a benefit in growth, development and survival of lowland tadpoles by rearing tadpoles at three temperatures (17 and 22°C are two typical winter water temperatures and 27°C is a representative summer water temperature) and four different densities (5, 10, 20 and 30 tadpoles per box). We found that tadpoles metamorphosed earlier and at smaller sizes at 22°C (the higher winter water temperature) than tadpoles raised at either 17 or 27°C. Tadpoles raised at 27°C exhibited a longer larval period and a smaller metamorphic size than those raised at 22°C.