| Silk elasticity as a potential constraint on spider body size. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 20600136 Owner: NLM Status: In-Process |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
Silk is known for its strength and extensibility and has played a key role in the radiation of spiders. Individual spiders use different glands to produce silk types with unique sets of proteins. Most research has studied the properties of major ampullate and capture spiral silks and their ecological implications, while little is known about minor ampullate silk, the type used by those spider species studied to date for bridging displacements. A biomechanical model parameterised with available data shows that the minimum radius of silk filaments required for efficient bridging grows with the square root of the spider's body mass, faster than the radius of minor ampullate silk filaments actually produced by spiders. Because the morphology of spiders adapted to walking along or under silk threads is ill suited for moving on a solid surface, for these species there is a negative relationship between body mass and displacement ability. As it stands, the model suggests that spiders that use silk for their displacements are prevented from attaining a large body size if they must track their resources in space. In particular, silk elasticity would favour sexual size dimorphism because males that must use bridging lines to search for females cannot grow large. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Miguel A Rodríguez-Gironés; Guadalupe Corcobado; Jordi Moya-Laraño |
Related Documents
:
|
16701326 - Historical biogeography, ecology and species richness. 16011916 - An ecological 'footprint' of climate change. 11121566 - The stage-structured predator-prey model and optimal harvesting policy. 21988326 - Understanding driver anger and aggression: attributional theory in the driving environm... 15349946 - High reproducibility of large-gel two-dimensional electrophoresis. 19725696 - Prediction of plantar shear stress distribution by artificial intelligence methods. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2010-06-30 |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Journal of theoretical biology Volume: 266 ISSN: 1095-8541 ISO Abbreviation: J. Theor. Biol. Publication Date: 2010 Oct |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2010-08-24 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 0376342 Medline TA: J Theor Biol Country: England |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 430-5 Citation Subset: IM |
Copyright Information:
|
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Experimental de Zonas Aridas, CSIC, Ctra. de Sacramento S/N, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120 Almeria, Spain. rgirones@eeza.csic.es |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
|
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: A dynamic model of saliva secretion.
Next Document: Adaptive foraging does not always lead to more complex food webs.