Body size as an implicit factor: case studies of life-history strategies and behaviour

Body size has a potential to influence almost any trait in animal biology. The thesis contains four case studies (I - IV) covering four various situations and four various taxa, mainly squamate reptiles (Lepidosauria). Body size is a connecting factor for all these studies, in which I and my co-authors tried to elucidate various implications of body size. I. The sex ratio in Cuban boa (Chilabothrus angulifer) litters is often male or female biased. The neonates are so large, that are able to accept the same type of prey as are adults (in contrast to the other Chilabothrus species). We found that both the sexes are of the same size and shape at birth. Large size of the neonates a long lifespan lead to considerable generation overlaps. This could clarify our findings that small females produce sons whereas the larger ones deliver daughters. Males are smaller than females, probably also less philopatric and refuse food during breeding season. We can conclude that females manipulate the sex ratio of neonates according to its own body size, in order to decrease the probability of competition with their own offspring. II. Mangrove-dwelling monitor lizard (Varanus indicus) shows one of the greatest degrees of sexual size dimorphism among monitor lizards. We recorded the growth of the individuals from...Velikost je jedním z nejdůležitějších faktorů, který ovlivňuje veškerou biologii zvířat. Tato práce obsahuje čtyři publikace (I - IV), v nichž jsem se spolu se spoluautory pokusila objasnit různé souvislosti velikosti těla, a to ve čtyřech různých situacích u čtyř různých taxonů, většinou šupinatých plazů (Lepidosauria). I. Vrhy hroznýšovce kubánského (Chilabothrus angulifer) mají často vychýlený poměr pohlaví. Mláďata se rodí tak velká, že mohou na rozdíl od příbuzných druhů hroznýšovců přijímat stejný druh kořisti jako dospělci. Prokázali jsme, že obě pohlaví se rodí ve stejné velikosti a neliší se ani tvarem těla. Velké rozměry novorozenců a dlouhá doba dožití vedou ke značnému překryvu generací. To by mohlo vysvětlit naše zjištění, že malé samice rodí hlavně syny, zatímco velké dcery. Samci hroznýšovců jsou menší než samice, zřejmě jsou méně filopatričtí a navíc během období páření nepřijímají potravu. Lze tedy předpokládat, že samice podle vlastní velikosti těla manipulují poměrem pohlaví tak, aby snížily pravděpodobnost kompetice s vlastními mláďaty. II. Varan mangrovový (Varanus indicus) vykazuje jeden z nejvýraznějších velikostních pohlavních dimorfismů mezi varany. My jsme sledovali růst mláďat od vylíhnutí do téměř plné velikosti. Zjistili jsme, že obě pohlaví mají na začátku stejnou...Department of ZoologyKatedra zoologieFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

Riociguat treatment in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Final safety data from the EXPERT registry

Objective: The soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat is approved for the treatment of adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inoperable or persistent/recurrent chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) following Phase

The development of sexual size dimorphism in some boid snakes (Boidae)

Katedra zoologieDepartment of ZoologyFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Body size as an implicit factor: case studies of life-history strategies and behaviour

Body size has a potential to influence almost any trait in animal biology. The thesis contains four case studies (I - IV) covering four various situations and four various taxa, mainly squamate reptiles (Lepidosauria). Body size is a connecting factor for all these studies, in which I and my co-authors tried to elucidate various implications of body size. I. The sex ratio in Cuban boa (Chilabothrus angulifer) litters is often male or female biased. The neonates are so large, that are able to accept the same type of prey as are adults (in contrast to the other Chilabothrus species). We found that both the sexes are of the same size and shape at birth. Large size of the neonates a long lifespan lead to considerable generation overlaps. This could clarify our findings that small females produce sons whereas the larger ones deliver daughters. Males are smaller than females, probably also less philopatric and refuse food during breeding season. We can conclude that females manipulate the sex ratio of neonates according to its own body size, in order to decrease the probability of competition with their own offspring. II. Mangrove-dwelling monitor lizard (Varanus indicus) shows one of the greatest degrees of sexual size dimorphism among monitor lizards. We recorded the growth of the individuals from..

The development of sexual size dimorphism in some boid snakes (Boidae)

Katedra zoologieDepartment of ZoologyFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Mammalian Collection on Noah's Ark: The Effects of Beauty, Brain and Body Size

<div><p>The importance of today's zoological gardens as the so-called “Noah's Ark” grows as the natural habitat of many species quickly diminishes. Their potential to shelter a large amount of individuals from many species gives us the opportunity to reintroduce a species that disappeared in nature. However, the selection of animals to be kept in zoos worldwide is highly selective and depends on human decisions driven by both ecological criteria such as population size or vulnerability and audience-driven criteria such as aesthetic preferences. Thus we focused our study on the most commonly kept and bred animal class, the mammals, and we asked which factors affect various aspects of the mammalian collection of zoos. We analyzed the presence/absence, population size, and frequency per species of each of the 123 mammalian families kept in the worldwide zoo collection. Our aim was to explain these data using the human-perceived attractiveness of mammalian families, their body weight, relative brain size and species richness of the family. In agreement with various previous studies, we found that the body size and the attractiveness of mammals significantly affect all studied components of the mammalian collection of zoos. There is a higher probability of the large and attractive families to be kept. Once kept, these animals are presented in larger numbers in more zoos. On the contrary, the relative mean brain size only affects the primary selection whether to keep the family or not. It does not affect the zoo population size or the number of zoos that keep the family.</p></div