TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kupfer, Alexander
A1  - Maxwell, Erin
A1  - Reinhard, Sandy
A1  - Kuehnel, Susanne
T1  - The evolution of parental investment in caecilian amphibians: a comparative approach
JF  - Biological journal of the Linnean Society : a journal of evolution
N2  - Parental care is widespread among vertebrates and the observed patterns of parental care and investment are extremely diverse. Among amphibians, caecilians (Gymnophiona) exhibit considerable variation in reproductive modes, including both oviparity and viviparity, combined with highly unusual investment strategies (e.g. skin-feeding and intrauterine feeding). In the present study, current knowledge on the reproductive modes is integrated into an analysis of the evolutionary scenario of parental investment of caecilians. Phylogenetically basal caecilians possessing a biphasic life cycle that includes an aquatic larval stage invest in macrolecithal eggs directly corresponding to size at hatching. Some phylogenetically derived caecilians (i.e. the Teresomata) have a smaller clutch size and show a reduction to either medium-yolked (mesolecithal) or small-yolked (microlecithal) eggs. Via alternative pathways of parental investment, such as intrauterine feeding in viviparous taxa and maternal dermatotrophy in oviparous taxa, teresomatan caecilians increase both offspring size and quality. However, more data regarding reproductive biology are needed to obtain a fully resolved understanding of the evolution of reproduction in caecilian amphibians. (C) 2016 The Linnean Society of London
KW  - Amphibia
KW  - Gymnophiona
KW  - life history
KW  - parental care
KW  - phylogeny
KW  - reproductive investment
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12805
SN  - 0024-4066
SN  - 1095-8312
VL  - 119
SP  - 4
EP  - 14
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -