Evolution of developmental rate in mammals.
The allometric relationship between gestation period and body mass in terrestrial placental mammals was analyzed using data from 147 species. Important differences were found among the various orders. These differences can be explained if it were assumed that the order-specific lifestyle and environment in which the young are born has caused different selection pressures on the newborn young in the various orders and thus influenced the number of young per litter and duration of gestation. As proposed elsewhere, such evolutionary effects on embryonic development may have indirectly influenced the evolution of mammalian life span.
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001827:Body Height; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008322:Mammals / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal