title: Profound seasonal shrinking and regrowth of the ossified braincase in phylogenetically distant mammals with similar life histories.
abstract: Ontogenetic changes in skull shape and size are ubiquitous in altricial vertebrates, but typically unidirectional and minimal in full-grown animals. Red-toothed shrews exhibit a rare exception, where the shape, mass and size of the skull, brain, and several major organs, show significant bidirectional seasonal changes. We now show a similar but male-biased shrinking (16%) and regrowth (8%) in the standardized braincase depth of least weasels (Mustela nivalis). Juvenile weasels also exhibit a growth overshoot, followed by a shrinkage period lasting until the end of their first winter. Only male weasels then regrow during their second summer. High-resolution CT scans suggest areas of the skull are affected differently during shrinking and regrowth in both species. This suggests multiple evolutionary drivers: while the shrinking likely facilitates survival during seasonal low resource availability in these high-metabolic mammals with year-round activity, the regrowth may be most strongly influenced by high investment into reproduction and territories, which is male-biased in the weasels. Our data provide evidence for convergent evolution of skull and thus brain shrinkage and regrowth, with important implications for understanding adaptations to changing environments and for applied research on the correlated changes in bone structure, brain size and the many other affected organs.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany.|University of Konstanz, Department of Biology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Dina K N
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Dechmann
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany.|Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palisades, New York 10964, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: LaPoint
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Göttingen, Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, 37075 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dullin
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hertel
authors.affiliation: University of Białystok, Institute of Biology, 15-245 Białystok, Poland.
authors.forename: Jan R E
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Mammal Research Institute, 17-230 Białowieża, Poland.
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zub
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany.|University of Konstanz, Department of Biology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wikelski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010012:Osteogenesis; D010802:Phylogeny; D012621:Seasons; D012737:Sex Factors; D012886:Skull; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed