Palaeohistology reveals a slow pace of life for the dwarfed Sicilian elephant
Köhler, Meike (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Herridge, Victoria (Natural History Museum. Earth Sciences)
Nacarino-Meneses, Carmen (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Fortuny, Josep (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Moncunill Solé, Blanca (Universidade da Coruña. Centro de Investigacións Científicas Avanzadas)
Rosso, Antonietta (Università di Catania. Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali)
Sanfilippo, Rossana (Università di Catania. Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali)
Palombo, Maria Rita (Sapienza University of Rome. c7o Earth Science Department)
Moyà Solà, Salvador (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	The 1-m-tall dwarf elephant Palaeoloxodon falconeri from the Pleistocene of Sicily (Italy) is an extreme example of insular dwarfism and epitomizes the Island Rule. Based on scaling of life-history (LH) traits with body mass, P. falconeri is widely considered to be 'r-selected' by truncation of the growth period, associated with an early onset of reproduction and an abbreviated lifespan. These conjectures are, however, at odds with predictions from LH models for adaptive shifts in body size on islands. To settle the LH strategy of P. falconeri, we used bone, molar, and tusk histology to infer growth rates, age at first reproduction, and longevity. Our results from all approaches are congruent and provide evidence that the insular dwarf elephant grew at very slow rates over an extended period; attained maturity at the age of 15 years; and had a minimum lifespan of 68 years. This surpasses not only the values predicted from body mass but even those of both its giant sister taxon (P. antiquus) and its large mainland cousin (L. africana). The suite of LH traits of P. falconeri is consistent with the LH data hitherto inferred for other dwarfed insular mammals. P. falconeri, thus, not only epitomizes the Island Rule but it can also be viewed as a paradigm of evolutionary change towards a slow LH that accompanies the process of dwarfing in insular mammals.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-117118GB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-116908GB-I00 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-86 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-116 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-960
Note:	Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Evolution ; Palaeontology
Published in:	Scientific reports, Vol. 11 (November 2021) , art. 22862, ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02192-4
PMID: 34819557

17 p, 4.8 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles