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GENETIC CORRELATIONS BETWEEN BASAL AND MAXIMUM METABOLIC RATES IN A WILD RODENT: CONSEQUENCES FOR EVOLUTION OF ENDOTHERMY
Author(s) -
Sadowska Edyta T.,
Labocha Marta K.,
Baliga Katarzyna,
Stanisz Anna,
Wróblewska Aleksandra K.,
Jagusiak Wojciech,
Koteja Pawel
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01025.x
Subject(s) - biology , aerobic capacity , heritability , basal metabolic rate , genetic correlation , genetic variation , zoology , dominance (genetics) , ecology , vo2 max , rodent , evolutionary biology , genetics , gene , heart rate , medicine , endocrinology , blood pressure , biochemistry , physical therapy
According to the aerobic capacity model, endothermy in birds and mammals evolved as a correlated response to selection for an ability of sustained locomotor activity, rather than in a response to direct selection for thermoregulatory capabilities. A key assumption of the model is that aerobic capacity is functionally linked to basal metabolic rate (BMR). The assumption has been tested in several studies at the level of phenotypic variation among individuals or species, but none has provided a clear answer whether the traits are genetically correlated. Here we present results of a genetic analysis based on measurements of the basal and the maximum swim‐ and cold‐induced oxygen consumption in about 1000 bank voles from six generations of a laboratory colony, reared from animals captured in the field. Narrow sense heritability (h 2 ) was about 0.5 for body mass, about 0.4 for mass‐independent basal and maximum metabolic rates, and about 0.3 for factorial aerobic scopes. Dominance genetic and common environmental (5 maternal) effects were not significant. Additive genetic correlation between BMR and the swim‐induced aerobic capacity was high and positive, whereas correlation resulting from specific‐environmental effects was negative. However, BMR was not genetically correlated with the cold‐induced aerobic capacity. The results are consistent with the aerobic capacity model of the evolution of endothermy in birds and mammals.