Can body mass and skull morphology predict seed and fruit ingestion potential for mammal species? A test using extant species and its application to extinct species

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60077344%3A_____%2F23%3A00570762" target="_blank" >RIV/60077344:_____/23:00570762 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60076658:12310/23:43906501

Result on the web

<a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1365-2435.14300" target="_blank" >https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1365-2435.14300</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14300" target="_blank" >10.1111/1365-2435.14300</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Can body mass and skull morphology predict seed and fruit ingestion potential for mammal species? A test using extant species and its application to extinct species

Original language description

1. Larger animals are assumed to ingest larger seeds and consume larger fruits, but empirical studies reveal inconsistent trends between body mass and the average size of fruits and seeds ingested. Furthermore, no studies have explored seed size relationships with morphological traits, such as skull dimensions. Such characteristics might provide more reliable estimates of ingestion ability and allow for accurate predictions of seed dispersal capacity in species for which we lack empirical data, especially extinct species. To determine whether (i) mammalian skull dimensions are better predictors of the maximum size of ingested seeds and fruits, compared to body mass and (ii) body mass are the better predictors of mean fruit and seed sizes, we studied these relationships across three mammalian orders: Chiroptera, Primates and Carnivora. 2. We collected novel data on skull dimensions and collated available data on body mass and maximum and mean sizes of ingested fruits and seeds for mammals (N = 100) across the Neotropics, Asia, Africa and Madagascar. We explored the relationships between anatomical traits and fruit and seed sizes of extant species and made predictions for five extinct species. 3. Our results revealed that body mass and skull dimensions are essential determinants of ingested fruit and seed size in mammals. The latter traits can generate predictions for extinct species, especially coronoid height and maximum jaw gape. Nevertheless, body mass predicted larger ingested fruits and seeds than skull dimensions and explained a greater part of the variance for both maximum and mean sizes in our dataset. 4. Our results show how body mass and cranial anatomy constrain seed size and reinforce the importance of maintaining functional diversity in seed dispersers to maintain tropical forest structure. We also show that scientists can use morphological characteristics to predict the seed dispersal potential of extinct mammals allowing better inferences on past and future consequences of frugivore extinctions within tropical forests.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Functional Ecology

ISSN

0269-8463

e-ISSN

1365-2435

Volume of the periodical

37

Issue of the periodical within the volume

5

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

1504-1515

UT code for WoS article

000940340500001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85149702349