Fast-Slow Life History Traits. This is an output from PanTHERIA for seven
life history traits (female body mass, gestation length, interbirth interval, litter
size, neonatal body mass, age at sexual maturity and weaning age) for 268 species
used in an analysis of the fast-slow life-history continuum in mammals.
Files:
Fast Slow Data Files
,
Fast Slow Data Files
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the original data that contributed to this database..
Reference: In review. Bielby J.N., G.M. Mace, O.R.P. Bininda-Emonds, M. Cardillo,
J.L. Gittleman, K.E. Jones, D. Orme and A. Purvis,. The fast-slow continuum in mammalian
life history: an empirical re-evaluation. American Naturalist.
Abstract: Many life-history traits covary across species, even when body
size differences are controlled for. This phenomenon has led to the concept of a
'fast-slow continuum', which has been influential in both empirical and theoretical
studies of life history evolution. We present a comparative analysis of mammalian
life histories showing that, for mammals at least, there is not a single fast-slow
continuum. Rather, both across and within mammalian clades, the speed of life varies
along at least two largely independent axes, when body size effects are removed.
One axis reflects species' investment in offspring biomass, while the other describes
the timing of reproductive bouts.