Abstract Allometry has been the focus of growing interest in studies using geometric morphometric methods to address a wide range research questions at interface ecology and evolution. This study uses computer simulations compare four for estimating allometric vectors from landmark data: multivariate regression shape on measure size, first principal component (PC1) shape, PC1 conformation space...

size at sexual maturity and patterns of somatic growth are important aspects of reproductive history of crab. the main purpose of this study is to provide an estimate for the onset of morphological sexual maturity in mangrove crab, opusia indica from a population located in korangi creek intertidal mud flat (karachi, pakistan) based on relative growth. the crabs were monthly collected through q...

BACKGROUND In the absence of stochasticity, allometric growth throughout ontogeny is axiomatically described by the logarithm-transformed power-law model, θt = log(a) b + kφ(t), where θt ≡ θ(t) and φt ≡ φ(t) are the logarithmic sizes of two traits at any given time t. Realistically, however, stochasticity is an inherent property of ontogenetic allometry. Due to the inherent stochasticity in bot...

Secular change in height has been extensively investigated, but size and shape of the postcranial skeleton much less so. The availability of large, documented collections of nineteenth- and twentieth-century skeletons makes it possible to examine changes in skeletal structure over the past 150 years. We examined secular changes in long bone lengths and proportions, their allometric relationship...

Ontogenetic studies of African ape skulls lead to an analysis of morphological differences in terms of allometry, heterochrony, and sexual dimorphism. The use of geometric morphometrics allows us 1) to define size and shape variations as independent factors (an essential but seldom respected condition for heterochrony), and 2) to calculate in percentage of shape changes and to graphically repre...

Front cover: Cover image: J.C. Marugán-Lobón et al., ‘Beyond the beak: brain size and allometry in avian craniofacial evolution’ this issue