Sinervo B, Zamudio K, Doughty P, Huey R B
Science. 1992 Dec 18;258(5090):1927-30. doi: 10.1126/science.258.5090.1927.
Techniques of offspring size manipulation, "allometric engineering," were used in combination with studies of natural selection to elucidate the causal relation between egg size and offspring survival of lizards. The results experimentally validate premises underlying theories of optimal egg size: fecundity selection favoring the production of large clutches of small eggs was balanced by survival selection favoring large offspring. However, large hatchlings did not always have the highest survival, contrary to most theoretical expectations. Optimizing selection on offspring size per se was the most common pattern. Moreover, matches between average and optimal egg size were qualitative, not quantitative, perhaps reflecting known functional constraints on the production of large eggs.
研究人员运用了后代体型操控技术，即“异速生长工程”，并结合自然选择研究，以阐明蜥蜴蛋大小与后代存活率之间的因果关系。实验结果验证了最优蛋大小理论的前提：有利于产出大量小蛋的繁殖力选择，与有利于大型后代的生存选择相互平衡。然而，与大多数理论预期相反，大型幼体并不总是具有最高的存活率。对后代大小本身的优化选择是最常见的模式。此外，平均蛋大小与最优蛋大小之间的匹配是定性的，而非定量的，这或许反映了已知的对产出大蛋的功能限制。
