Lee Julian C
Department of Biology, University of Miami, 33124, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
Oecologia. 1986 May;69(2):207-212. doi: 10.1007/BF00377623.
This study examines the idea that variation in forelimb length among male anurans influences reproductive success, and does so independently of body size. Analyses of covariance and multivariate analyses of morphological data for five species of explosives breeders are used to test the prediction that for species in which male-male displacements contribute to variation in male reproductive success, amplectant males have longer forelimbs than do non-amplectant males at any body length. The findings for four of five species are in agreement with expectation. The results lend support to the suggestion that for explosive-breeding anurans, the large-male mating advantage may not be a consequence of large body size per se, but rather is due to the fact that large males have longer forelimbs with which to grasp females securely during amplexus and thus resist displacements by competing males.
本研究探讨了雄性无尾两栖动物前肢长度的差异会影响繁殖成功率这一观点，且这种影响独立于体型大小。通过对五种爆发式繁殖物种的形态学数据进行协方差分析和多变量分析，来检验以下预测：对于雄性间的竞争会导致雄性繁殖成功率产生差异的物种，在任何体长情况下，抱对的雄性比未抱对的雄性具有更长的前肢。五个物种中有四个物种的研究结果与预期相符。这些结果支持了以下观点：对于爆发式繁殖的无尾两栖动物而言，大体型雄性的交配优势可能并非仅仅源于其本身的大体型，而是因为大体型雄性具有更长的前肢，以便在抱对时更牢固地抓住雌性，从而抵御竞争雄性的驱赶。
