Abstract
BackgroundAs a small artiodactyl, the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) is characterized by biological plasticity and great adaptability demonstrated by their survival under a wide variety of environmental conditions. In order to depict patterns of phenotypic variation of roe deer body this study aims to quantify variation during ontogenetic development and determine how sex-specific reproductive investment and non-uniform habitat differences relate to phenotypic variation and do these differential investments mold the patterns of phenotypic variation through modular organisation.ResultsPatterns of phenotypic correlation among body traits change during the ontogeny of roe deer, with differential influence of sex and habitat type. Modularity was found to be a feature of closed habitats with trunk+forelimbs+hindlimbs as the best supported integration/modularity hypothesis for both sexes. The indices of integration and evolvability vary with habitat type, age and sex where increased integration is followed by decreased evolvability.ConclusionThis is the first study that quantifies patterns of correlation in the roe deer body and finds pronounced changes in correlation structure during ontogeny affected by sex and habitat type. The correlation structure of the roe deer body is developmentally written over the course of ontogeny but we do not exclude the influence of function on ontogenetic changes. Modularity arises with the onset of reproduction (subadults not being modular) and is differentially expressed in males and females from different habitats. Both adult males and females show modularity in primordial, closed habitats. Overall, all these findings are important as they provide support to the idea that modularity can evolve at the population level and change fast within a species.
Highlights
As a small artiodactyl, the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) is characterized by biological plasticity and great adaptability demonstrated by their survival under a wide variety of environmental conditions
We expect more pronounced body modules in sexually mature adults as resources are differentially allocated from intense growth and channelled into improving functional performances. As this species is well adapted to wide variety of environments and habitats with complex social organization and spatial behaviour correlated to sex [19], we addressed impact of habitat and sex on the roe deer body modular organization during ontogeny
As this species is well adapted to wide variety of environments and habitats with complex social organization and spatial behaviour correlated to sex, we addressed impact of habitat and sex on the roe deer body modular organization during ontogeny
Summary
The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) is characterized by biological plasticity and great adaptability demonstrated by their survival under a wide variety of environmental conditions. Understanding how complex morphological structures arise during development and how they are altered during evolution is not a simple task. Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) is very interesting species for eco-evo-devo studies as it is widespread ungulate species in Europe with high level of flexibility and success in colonizing different habitats. Adaptation to wide variety of environments and habitats influenced the social organization and spatial behaviour of roe deer populations [19], where availability and configuration of woodland habitats have an important role. Differences in social and spatial behaviour of roe deer populations in open and closed habitats have led to a long-standing distinction in between “forest” and “field” roe deer based on morphological and genetic variation [18, 20,21,22,23,24]
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