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Metabolic Rate, Generation Time, and the Rate of Molecular Evolution in Birds
Abstract
A recent hypothesis suggests that resting metabolic rate, measured as energy expended per unit body mass per unit time, might be implicated in the rate of nucleotide substitution in animals. Using relative rate tests on DNA-DNA hybridization data from birds, we show that generation time is significantly correlated with genetic distance between members of an ingroup and an outgroup taxon, but that neither metabolic rate nor body mass explain variation consistent with the hypothesis, either alone or with generation time.
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“The predicted correlation of generation time with mutation rate 24 has been supported by studies that compare the rates of molecular evolution with generation time (or its correlate, body size) across a range of genes for several vertebrate species 35,37-39 .”
From The modern molecular clock (2003) · cites this paper as [39]
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Bleiweiss, R. E. (1998) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025948 · Cited by 16
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“…times between biological lineages and molecular evolutionary rates (Sarich and Wilson 1967; Wilson and Sarich 1969; Ohta and Kimura 1971; Langley and Fitch 1974; Read 1975; Gillespie and Langley 1979; Kimura 1983; Britten 1986; Gillespie 1986b; Martin and Palumbi 1993; Mooers and Harvey 1994).”
BackgroundO’Connor, T. D., & Mundy, N. I. (2013) · Evolutionary Bioinformatics · doi:10.4137/ebo.s11600 · Cited by 13
Tiley, G. P., Kimball, R. T., Braun, E. L., & Burleigh, J. G. (2018) · BMC Genomics · doi:10.1186/s12864-018-4711-0 · Cited by 14
“We assumed a generation time of 1 year [62, 63] and a mutation rate of 1.”
BackgroundThe Molecular Clock and Evolutionary Rates Across the Tree of Life
Ho, S. Y. W. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-60181-2_1 · Cited by 16
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“…with small body size comprise a greater number of undescribed species (Diamond, 1985; Gaston, 1991; Cooper et al., 2006; Jones et al., 2009) despite smaller animals having higher diversification rates (Mooers & Harvey, 1994; Bromham et al., 1996; Fontanillas et al., 2007; Feldman et al., 2016).”
BackgroundCauses of Variation in the Rate of Molecular Evolution
Bromham, L. D. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-60181-2_4 · Cited by 13
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“11 and particular hypotheses have received support in different taxonomic groups (Martin and Palumbi 1993; Mooers and Harvey 1994; Galtier et al. 2009; Garcia-Porta et al. 2019; Duchêne et al. 2021).”
BackgroundResultMoreira, L. R., Hernández-Baños, B. E., & Smith, B. T. (2020) · Molecular Ecology · doi:10.1111/mec.15536 · Cited by 9
Quillfeldt, P. (2017) · Molecular Ecology · doi:10.1111/mec.14103 · Cited by 9
“A relationship between body mass and molecular evolution rates has previously been suggested (e.g. model by Gillooly et al. 2005), but not been found in some previous studies of birds (Mooers & Harvey 1994).”
ResultNONSTOCHASTIC VARIATION OF SPECIES-LEVEL DIVERSIFICATION RATES WITHIN ANGIOSPERMS
Sims, H. J., & McConway, K. J. (2003) · Evolution · doi:10.1554/0014-3820(2003)057[0460:nvosdr]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 9
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Wilsenach, J., Landi, P., & Hui, C. (2017) · Physical review. E · doi:10.1103/physreve.95.042401 · Cited by 8
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“For example, flight in birds is an extreme form of endurance exercise associated with high metabolic rates [16, 17], high respiratory rates [12], high rates of catabolism of lipids and proteins [18], and oxidative stress [19].”
BackgroundAGE AT MATURITY AND DIVERSIFICATION IN WOODY ANGIOSPERMS
Verdú, M. (2002) · Evolution · doi:10.1554/0014-3820(2002)056[1352:aamadi]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 7
Bromham, L. (2024) · Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology · doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a041453 · Cited by 3
“In birds, the rate of molecular evolution is in fl u-enced by life history (Mooers and Harvey 1994) and sexual selection (Iglesias-Carrasco et al. 2019).”
Testing the Effect of Metabolic Rate on DNA Variability at the Intra-Specific Level
McGaughran, A., & Holland, B. R. (2010) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009686 · Cited by 6
“The rate of molecular evolution is known to vary in three predominant ways (changes in: mutation rate, population size, and selection coefficients; [1]), but in practice, the specific causes of rate variation are difficult to isolate [2,3].”
BackgroundResultFeng, P., & Zhou, Q. (2017) · Journal of Mammalian Evolution · doi:10.1007/s10914-017-9399-4 · Cited by 5
“…have been proposed to explain the forces that drive the molecular evolution of mtDNA: the generation time hypothesis (Li et al. 1987; Ohta 1993; Mooers and Harvey 1994; Bromham et al. 1996), the metabolic rate hypothesis (Martin and Palumbi 1993; Martin 1995; Nunn and Stanley 1998), the…”
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Quintana, L., & del Rosario, T. (2017) · The Atrium (University of Guelph) · Cited by 5
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Bannikova, A. A., & Lebedev, V. S. (2022) · Biology Bulletin Reviews · doi:10.1134/s2079086422050024 · Cited by 4
“, 2017), including birds (Mooers and Harvey, 1994), invertebrates (Thomas et al.”
BackgroundRobinson, J. A., Bowie, R. C. K., Dudchenko, O., et al. (2022) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.049 · Cited by 4
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“This hypothesis is currently the most accepted, even if other factors play on the mutation rate but with smaller effect such as GC content (Krasovec et al., 2017), genome size, generation time or metabolic rate (Martin & Palumbi, 1993; Mooers & Harvey, 1994; Thomas et al., 2010; Weller & Wu, 2015).”
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“Particularly in poikilotherm organisms, Mooers and Harvey (1994) found low nucleotide substitution rates in mitochondrial DNA compared to homeoterm organisms of the same size, indicating that the metabolic rate influences the rate of molecular evolution (Allen et al., 2006; Martin & Palumbi, 1993),…”
BackgroundChapter 4 Rarity and Phylogeny in Birds
Webb, T. J., Kersha, M., Gastonl, K. J., et al. (2001) · Cited by 1
Duchêne, D. A., Montoya, P., Claramunt, S., & Cadena, C. D. (2020) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2020.01.16.908368 · Cited by 1
“…rates are indeed associated with rates of molecular evolution (Bleiweiss 1998; Gillooly et al. 2005, 2007; Garcia-Porta et al. 2019), multiple studies have not found such an association (Mooers and Harvey 1994; Bromham et al. 1996; Lanfear et al. 2007; Galtier et al. 2009; Rolland et al. 2016).”
BackgroundKrieger, J., & Fuerst, P. A. (2008) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8437-9_4
Bromham, L. D. (2013) · Encyclopedia of Life Sciences · doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0001802.pub3
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Eo, S.-H. (2008) · Journal of Ecology and Environment · doi:10.5141/jefb.2008.31.1.075
黄, 满., LUMBSCH, H. T., 郭, 守., 魏, 江., & 王, 海. (2010) · Scientia Sinica Vitae · doi:10.1360/zc2010-40-8-731
Long-term responses of life-history strategies to climatic variability in flowering plantsPreprint
Boyko, J. D., Hagen, E. R., Beaulieu, J. M., et al. (2022) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2022.10.19.512857
Montoya, P., Cadena, C. D., Claramunt, S., & Duchêne, D. A. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.20423687
Generation time is not a universal constraint on adaptive evolutionPreprint
Chaparro‐Pedraza, P. C., & Rees-Baylis, E. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.02.04.703757
Les causes des variations du taux d’évolution moléculaire entre lignées
Lourenço, J. (2011) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/28835658ze3c8z4a59z94bcz6db7a7e22084
Étude de l’impact mutationnel d’une perte de méthylation de l’ADN chez Arabidopsis thaliana
Baillet, V. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/2967bc12zaa3ez4d05zbf40z16688b339e1d
Metadata
- Authors
- Mooers, A. Ø., & Harvey, P. H.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Venue
- Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1994-12
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 344-350
- ISSN
- 1055-7903 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1972334286
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 3.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Keywords
- resting metabolic rate, generation time, molecular evolution rate, nucleotide substitution rates, birds, genetic distance, DNA-DNA hybridization, body mass, relative rate tests, phylogenetic distance
- MeSH terms
- Age Factors, Animals, Basal Metabolism, Base Sequence, Biological Clocks, Birds, Body Temperature Regulation, Energy Metabolism, Mutation, Reproduction, Species Specificity
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