The origin and maintenance of metabolic allometry in animals

Craig R. White; Dustin J. Marshall; Lesley A. Alton; Pieter A. Arnold; Julian E. Beaman; Candice L. Bywater; Catriona Condon; Taryn S. Crispin; Aidan Janetzki; Elia Pirtle; Hugh S. Winwood-Smith; Michael J. Angilletta; Stephen F. Chenoweth; Craig E. Franklin; Lewis G. Halsey; Michael R. Kearney; Steven J. Portugal; Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos

doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0839-9

The origin and maintenance of metabolic allometry in animals

Craig R. White^*, Dustin J. Marshall, Lesley A. Alton, Pieter A. Arnold, Julian E. Beaman, Candice L. Bywater, Catriona Condon, Taryn S. Crispin, Aidan Janetzki, Elia Pirtle, Hugh S. Winwood-Smith, Michael J. Angilletta, Stephen F. Chenoweth, Craig E. Franklin, Lewis G. Halsey, Michael R. Kearney, Steven J. Portugal, Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

81 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Organisms vary widely in size, from microbes weighing 0.1 pg to trees weighing thousands of megagrams — a 10 ²¹ -fold range similar to the difference in mass between an elephant and the Earth. Mass has a pervasive influence on biological processes, but the effect is usually non-proportional; for example, a tenfold increase in mass is typically accompanied by just a four- to sevenfold increase in metabolic rate. Understanding the cause of allometric scaling has been a long-standing problem in biology. Here, we examine the evolution of metabolic allometry in animals by linking microevolutionary processes to macroevolutionary patterns. We show that the genetic correlation between mass and metabolic rate is strong and positive in insects, birds and mammals. We then use these data to simulate the macroevolution of mass and metabolic rate, and show that the interspecific relationship between these traits in animals is consistent with evolution under persistent multivariate selection on mass and metabolic rate over long periods of time.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	598-603
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Ecology and Evolution
Volume	3
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0839-9
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2019

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White, C. R., Marshall, D. J., Alton, L. A., Arnold, P. A., Beaman, J. E., Bywater, C. L., Condon, C., Crispin, T. S., Janetzki, A., Pirtle, E., Winwood-Smith, H. S., Angilletta, M. J., Chenoweth, S. F., Franklin, C. E., Halsey, L. G., Kearney, M. R., Portugal, S. J., & Ortiz-Barrientos, D. (2019). The origin and maintenance of metabolic allometry in animals. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 3(4), 598-603. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0839-9

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title = "The origin and maintenance of metabolic allometry in animals",

abstract = " Organisms vary widely in size, from microbes weighing 0.1 pg to trees weighing thousands of megagrams — a 10 21 -fold range similar to the difference in mass between an elephant and the Earth. Mass has a pervasive influence on biological processes, but the effect is usually non-proportional; for example, a tenfold increase in mass is typically accompanied by just a four- to sevenfold increase in metabolic rate. Understanding the cause of allometric scaling has been a long-standing problem in biology. Here, we examine the evolution of metabolic allometry in animals by linking microevolutionary processes to macroevolutionary patterns. We show that the genetic correlation between mass and metabolic rate is strong and positive in insects, birds and mammals. We then use these data to simulate the macroevolution of mass and metabolic rate, and show that the interspecific relationship between these traits in animals is consistent with evolution under persistent multivariate selection on mass and metabolic rate over long periods of time.",

author = "White, {Craig R.} and Marshall, {Dustin J.} and Alton, {Lesley A.} and Arnold, {Pieter A.} and Beaman, {Julian E.} and Bywater, {Candice L.} and Catriona Condon and Crispin, {Taryn S.} and Aidan Janetzki and Elia Pirtle and Winwood-Smith, {Hugh S.} and Angilletta, {Michael J.} and Chenoweth, {Stephen F.} and Franklin, {Craig E.} and Halsey, {Lewis G.} and Kearney, {Michael R.} and Portugal, {Steven J.} and Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2019",

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doi = "10.1038/s41559-019-0839-9",

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White, CR, Marshall, DJ, Alton, LA, Arnold, PA, Beaman, JE, Bywater, CL, Condon, C, Crispin, TS, Janetzki, A, Pirtle, E, Winwood-Smith, HS, Angilletta, MJ, Chenoweth, SF, Franklin, CE, Halsey, LG, Kearney, MR, Portugal, SJ & Ortiz-Barrientos, D 2019, 'The origin and maintenance of metabolic allometry in animals', Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 598-603. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0839-9

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AU - Winwood-Smith, Hugh S.

AU - Angilletta, Michael J.

AU - Chenoweth, Stephen F.

AU - Franklin, Craig E.

AU - Halsey, Lewis G.

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AU - Portugal, Steven J.

AU - Ortiz-Barrientos, Daniel

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The origin and maintenance of metabolic allometry in animals

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