Ae. Vinogradov, NUCLEOTYPIC EFFECT IN HOMEOTHERMS - BODY-MASS INDEPENDENT RESTING METABOLIC-RATE OF PASSERINE BIRDS IS RELATED TO GENOME SIZE, Evolution, 51(1), 1997, pp. 220-225
The resting metabolic rate of passerines is shown to be negatively cor
related with genome size when body mass is held constant (r = -0.75, P
< 0.01). This finding extends previous conclusion for mammals to this
bird order. The result holds when higher taxonomic levels are used in
stead of the species (for genera, r = -0.76, P < 0.03; for families, r
= -0.991, P < 0.01) as well as when the independent contrasts derived
from the resolved phylogeny are used instead of the taxa (r = -0.73,
P < 0.02), with the evolutionarily older contrasts being more strongly
correlated (for the contrasts older than 30 million yr, r = -0.998, P
< 0.002). The concept of evolutionary characters consolidation (ECC),
previously formulated for mammals, is tested with special reference t
o the error fraction in the total character variance. In this test, th
e ECC for the nucleotypic effect cannot be proven for mammals as a who
le class, but it holds for the two separate orders tested, rodents and
passerine birds. An upper taxonomic limit for the ECC is suggested.