Potential enhanced ability of giant squid to detect sperm whales is an exaptation tied to their large body size

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Peter C Wainwright⁴  Matthew D McGee⁴  Christopher H Martin¹  Christopher E Oufiero²  Ryosuke Motani⁵  Lars Schmitz³ 

[1]Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy & Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

[2]Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252, USA

[3]W.M. Keck Science Department, Claremont McKenna College, Pitzer College, and Scripps College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA

[4]Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

[5]Department of Geology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

关键词: Exaptation;    Adaptation;    Allometry;    Scaling;    Optical function;    Eye size;    Sperm whale;    Giant squid;   

Others  :  1085635
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2148-13-226

 received in 2013-10-09, accepted in 2013-10-11,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

It has been hypothesized that sperm whale predation is the driver of eye size evolution in giant squid. Given that the eyes of giant squid have the size expected for a squid this big, it is likely that any enhanced ability of giant squid to detect whales is an exaptation tied to their body size. Future studies should target the mechanism behind the evolution of large body size, not eye size. Reconstructions of the evolutionary history of selective regime, eye size, optical performance, and body size will improve the understanding of the evolution of large eyes in large ocean animals.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Schmitz et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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