Amphibian Metamorphosis: Growth Rate, Predation Risk, and the Optimal Size at Transformation
- 1 September 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by University of Chicago Press in The American Naturalist
- Vol. 128 (3), 319-341
- https://doi.org/10.1086/284565
Abstract
Many taxa have evolved complex life cycles featuring a dramatic shift in habitat or resource use at metamorphosis. Despite their prevalence and unique characteristics, we understand little about the adaptive properties and evolution of these life histories. I offer a conceptual framework that considers how size-specific growth and mortality rates in both habitats interact with size at metamorphosis that maximizes fitness, and I use this framework to interpret the wide variation in the life history structure of the amphibians. In particular, I speculate on the adaptive significance of the tadpole stage of the anurans and on the cause of variation in the size at metamorphosis both between and within anuran families. Further, I predict the conditions under which direct development or paedomorphosis will be selected for, and I offer hypotheses on the selective factors that may contribute to the three-stage life history of the newts. Finally, I comment on the evolution and maintenance of complex life histories.This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit:
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