Data/hora: 02/06/2024 05:28:46

Provedor de dados: | Brazilian Journal of Biology
País: | Brazil
Título: | Regression equations between body and head measurements in the broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris)
Autores: | VERDADE,L. M.
Data: | 2000-08-01
Ano: | 2000
Palavras-chave: | Relative growth; Sexual dimorphism; Size estimates; Broad-snouted caiman; Caiman latirostris.
Resumo: | In the present study, regression equations between body and head length measurements for the broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) are presented. Age and sex are discussed as sources of variation for allometric models. Four body-length, fourteen head-length, and ten ratio variables were taken from wild and captive animals. With the exception of body mass, log-transformation did not improve the regression equations. Besides helping to estimate body-size from head dimensions, the regression equations stressed skull shape changes during the ontogenetic process. All age-dependent variables are also size-dependent (and consequently dependent on growth rate), which is possibly related to the difficulty in predicting age of crocodilians based on single variable growth curves. Sexual dimorphism was detected in the allometric growth of cranium but not in the mandible, which may be evolutionarily related to the visual recognition of gender when individuals exhibit only the top of their heads above the surface of the water, a usual crocodilian behavior.
Tipo: | Info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Idioma: | Inglês
Identificador: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-71082000000300012
Editor: | Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
Relação: | 10.1590/S0034-71082000000300012
Formato: | text/html
Fonte: | Revista Brasileira de Biologia  v.60 n.3 2000
Fonte: | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess