Abstract
One of the many mysteries surrounding onychophorans, is why, despite their small body size, they have gestation periods that are as long as gestation in some mammals. Here we propose that the causes are infrequent feeding and the Mandatory Minimum Size model, according to which they must be born sufficiently developed to hunt their own food and survive adverse microclimates.
Highlights
Why did such long development periods evolve in such a small worm? Apparently, until now, nobody has proposed a hypothesis to explain this
We know that larger eggs and cold climates require more development time
Motherhood requires an important development of females, which must invest between 12 and 30 % of their weight in reproduction, so females take a long time to mature and only reproduce when they are between 15 months and 3 years old (Sherbon & Walker, 2004)
Summary
Why did such long development periods evolve in such a small worm? Apparently, until now, nobody has proposed a hypothesis to explain this. Columna Darwin In Memoriam ∙ Revista de Biología Tropical ∙ Universidad de Costa Rica https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/index Why did such long development periods evolve in such a small worm? Until now, nobody has proposed a hypothesis to explain this.
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