Abstract
Growth begins with fertilization of the ovum, although initial growth is rather slow in some vertebrates. Embryonic growth and postnatal development are discussed in detail in numerous textbooks, and these topics generally lie beyond the realm of vertebrate natural history. There are included in this chapter, however, distinctive adaptive patterns that characterize reproductive specializations of vertebrates. In egg-laying ectotherms, growth reflects the light, oxygen and temperature to which the eggs are exposed, and growth rates are very responsive to these factors. Viviparous ectotherms, of which there are many, have developed a variety of behavioral and physiologic procedures that tend to remove growth and growth rates from total dependency on the environment. Viviparity in fishes, amphibians and reptiles constitutes an adaptation for several situations.
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Suggested Readings
Gallien L (1959) Endocrine basis for reproductive adaptations in amphibia. In: Gorbman A (ed) Comparative endocrinology. Wiley, New York, pp. 479–487
Greer AE (1977) The systematics and evolutionary relationships of the scincid lizard genus Lygosoma. J Nat Hist 11:515–540
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Miller, MR (1959) The endocrine basis for reproductive adaptations in reptiles. In: Gorbman A (ed) Comparative endocrinology. Wiley, New York, pp. 499–516
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© 1981 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Jameson, E.W. (1981). Growth. In: Patterns of Vertebrate Biology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8103-7_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8103-7_12
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-8105-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8103-7
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