1 Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University , Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest H-1117 , Hungary.
2 MTA-ELTE, Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University , Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Budapest H-1117 , Hungary.
Biol Lett. 2019 Mar 29;15(3):20190051. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0051.
The early environment in which an organism grows can have long-lasting impacts on both its phenotype and fitness. However, assessing this environment comprehensively is a formidable task. The relative length of the second to the fourth digit (2D : 4D) is a broadly studied skeletal trait that is fixed for life during ontogeny. 2D : 4D has been shown to indicate various early effects including the perinatal steroid milieu in both humans and non-human animals. However, the fitness relevance of the early effects indicated by 2D : 4D remains unknown. Here, we investigated hindlimb 2D : 4D and measures of lifetime performance in wild collared flycatcher ( Ficedula albicollis) females. We found that females with higher 2D : 4D had a greater number of recruiting offspring to the breeding population. This was the case despite the fact that such females did not lay more eggs or breed more frequently during their reproductive life. Our results support the suggestion that 2D : 4D, known to be a retrospective marker of perinatal development, positively associates with female quality in the collared flycatcher.
生物体生长的早期环境会对其表型和适应度产生持久的影响。然而，全面评估这种环境是一项艰巨的任务。第二到第四指骨（2D：4D）的相对长度是一个广泛研究的骨骼特征，在个体发育过程中是终生固定的。2D：4D 已被证明可以指示各种早期影响，包括人类和非人类动物的围产期类固醇环境。然而，2D：4D 所指示的早期影响与适应度的相关性尚不清楚。在这里，我们研究了野生领雀嘴鹎（ Ficedula albicollis）雌性的后肢 2D：4D 和终生表现的测量值。我们发现，2D：4D 值较高的雌性向繁殖种群招募的后代数量更多。尽管这些雌性在其繁殖期并没有产下更多的蛋或繁殖更频繁。我们的研究结果支持了这样一种观点，即 2D：4D 作为围产期发育的回顾性标志物，与领雀嘴鹎的雌性质量呈正相关。
