Search results for "Parasites -- Variation"

Phenotypic Buffering in a Monogenean: Canalization and Developmental Stability in Shape and Size of the Haptoral Anchors of Ligophorus cephali (Monog…

2015

Phenotypic variation results from the balance between sources of variation and counteracting regulatory mechanisms. Canalization and developmental stability are two such mechanisms, acting at two different levels of regulation. The issue of whether or not they act concurrently as a common developmental buffering capacity has been subject to debate. We used geometric morphometrics to quantify the mechanisms that guarantee phenotypic constancy in the haptoral anchors of Ligophorus cephali. Canalization and developmental stability were appraised by estimating inter- and intra-individual variation, respectively, in size and shape of dorsal and ventral anchors. The latter variation was estimated…