Variation in the ontogenetic allometry of horn length in bovids along a body mass continuum

International audienceAllometric relationships describe patterns of proportional covariation between morphological, physiological, or life-history traits and the size of the organisms among populations or species (evolutionary allometry), or within population, among individuals measured at similar (static allometry), or different (ontogenetic allometry) age or developmental stages. When expressed on a log-log scale, allometric relationships are often described by a linear regression: log(y) = a + b log(x) where y is the trait size; x the body size; and a and b the allometric intercept and slope, respectively (Huxley, 1932). Because population and species mean trait size and body size used to estimate evolutionary allometry result from the proportional growth of both traits, patterns of evolutionary allometry emerge from variation in ontogenetic allom