ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2015
Distinguishing between determinate and indeterminate growth in a long-lived mammal.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hatchlings ofBiology · 2026Article
- The origins of mammal growth patterns during the Jurassic mammalian radiation.Science advances · 2024Article
- Human interventions in a behavioural experiment for Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus).Animal cognition · 2023Article
- Social Behavior and Group Formation in Male Asian Elephants (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
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- Correction to: Distinguishing between determinate and indeterminate growth in a long-lived mammal.BMC ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Palaeohistology reveals a slow pace of life for the dwarfed Sicilian elephant.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Dinosaur senescence: a hadrosauroid with age-related diseases brings a new perspective of "old" dinosaurs.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Acoustic structure and information content of trumpets in female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).PloS one · 2021Article
- Determinate growth is predominant and likely ancestral in squamate reptiles.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Faecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites and H/L Ratio are Related Markers of Stress in Semi-Captive Asian Timber Elephants.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2020Article
- The untapped potential of reptile biodiversity for understanding how and why animals age.Functional ecology · 2020Article
- Mahout Perspectives on Asian Elephants and Their Living Conditions.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2019Article
- Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans.BMC evolutionary biology · 2019Article
- Capture from the wild has long-term costs on reproductive success in Asian elephants.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2019Article
- Evolutionary significance of maternal kinship in a long-lived mammal.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019Article
- Long-term trends in wild-capture and population dynamics point to an uncertain future for captive elephants.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2019Article
- Males have more aggressive and less sociable personalities than females in semi-captive Asian elephants.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Parasite-associated mortality in a long-lived mammal: Variation with host age, sex, and reproduction.Ecology and evolution · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe growth strategy of a species influences many key aspects of its life-history. Animals can either grow indeterminately (throughout life), or grow determinately, ceasing at maturity. In mammals, continued weight gain after maturity is clearly distinguishable from continued skeletal growth (indeterminate growth). Elephants represent an interesting candidate for studying growth because of their large size, long life and sexual dimorphism. Objective measures of their weight, height and age, however, are rare.
resultsWe investigate evidence for indeterminate growth in the Asian elephant Elephas maximus using a longitudinal dataset from a semi-captive population. We fit growth curves to weight and height measurements, assess sex differences in growth, and test for indeterminate growth by comparing the asymptotes for height and weight curves. Our results show no evidence for indeterminate growth in the Asian elephant; neither sex increases in height throughout life, with the majority of height growth completed by the age of 15 years in females and 21 years in males. Females show a similar pattern with weight, whereas males continue to gain weight until over age 50. Neither sex shows any declines in weight with age.
conclusionsThese results have implications for understanding mammalian life-history, which could include sex-specific differences in trade-offs between size and reproductive investment.
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