Data from: Comparative support for the expensive tissue hypothesis: big brains are correlated with smaller gut and greater parental investment in Lake Tanganyika cichlids

dc.contributor.affiliationUppsala University - Tsuboi, Masahito
dc.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Helsinki - Husby, Arild
dc.contributor.affiliationStockholm University - Kotrschal, Alexander
dc.contributor.affiliationStockholm University - Hayward, Alexander
dc.contributor.affiliationStockholm University - Büchel, Séverine Denise
dc.contributor.affiliationLinköping University - Zidar, Josefina
dc.contributor.affiliationLinköping University - Løvlie, Hanne
dc.contributor.affiliationStockholm University - Kolm, Niclas
dc.contributor.authorTsuboi, Masahito
dc.contributor.authorHusby, Arild
dc.contributor.authorKotrschal, Alexander
dc.contributor.authorHayward, Alexander
dc.contributor.authorBüchel, Séverine Denise
dc.contributor.authorZidar, Josefina
dc.contributor.authorLøvlie, Hanne
dc.contributor.authorKolm, Niclas
dc.coverage.spatialLake Tanganyika
dc.date.accessioned2025-03-24T15:20:55Z
dc.date.issued2016-05-04
dc.date.issued2016-05-04
dc.descriptionThe brain is one of the most energetically expensive organs in the vertebrate body. Consequently, the energetic requirements of encephalization are suggested to impose considerable constraints on brain size evolution. Three main hypotheses concerning how energetic constraints might affect brain evolution predict covariation between brain investment and i) investment into other costly tissues, ii) overall metabolic rate, and iii) reproductive investment. To date, these hypotheses have mainly been tested in homeothermic animals and the existing data are inconclusive. However, there are good reasons to believe that energetic limitations might play a role in large-scale patterns of brain size evolution also in ectothermic vertebrates. Here we test these hypotheses in a group of ectothermic vertebrates, the Lake Tanganyika cichlid fishes. After controlling for the effect of shared ancestry and confounding ecological variables, we find a negative association between brain size and gut size. Furthermore, we find that the evolution of a larger brain is accompanied by increased reproductive investment into egg size and parental care. Our results indicate that the energetic costs of encephalization may be an important general factor involved in the evolution of brain size also in ectothermic vertebrates.
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.26pt6
dc.identifier.urihttps://hydatakatalogi-test-24.it.helsinki.fi/handle/123456789/10588
dc.rightsOpen
dc.rights.licensecc-zero
dc.subjectExpensive tissue hypothesis
dc.subjectphylogenetic comparative methods
dc.subjecttrade-offs
dc.subjectCichlidae
dc.subjectencephalization
dc.titleData from: Comparative support for the expensive tissue hypothesis: big brains are correlated with smaller gut and greater parental investment in Lake Tanganyika cichlids
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