First published online October 21, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 4067-4076 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01226
Developmental plasticity of physiology and morphology in diet-restricted European shag nestlings (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)
Børge Moe*,
Siri Brunvoll,
Daniel Mork,
Trond Einar Brobakk and
Claus Bech
Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and
Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway

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Fig. 1. Daily food intake (A) and body mass (B) as a function of age in controls
(black bars and black symbols) and diet-restricted nestlings (open bars and
open symbols) of European shags kept in the laboratory. The regression line of
a logistic growth curve calculated from 1645 body mass measurements of
nestlings fed by their parents in the colony is shown for comparison in B.
Food intake is given as fresh weight of gadoid fish fillets in g
day-1. Values are means ± 1 S.E.M.
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Fig. 2. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) as a function of body mass
(Mb) in controls (filled symbols) and diet-restricted
nestlings (open symbols) of European shags. The axes are log-scaled, and
linear regression lines are shown for each treatment group [log RMR
controls=0.87(±0.11)xlog
Mb1.62(±0.28), r=0.88; log RMR
diet-restricted=0.66(±0.37)xlog
Mb1.27(±0.95), r=0.49].
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Fig. 3. Body temperature at resting metabolic rate as a function of age in controls
(filled symbols) and diet-restricted nestlings (open symbols) of European
shags. Values are means ± 1 S.E.M.
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Fig. 4. Length of skull (A), tarsus (B) and wing (C) as a function of age, as well
as growth rates of the skull (D), tarsus (E) and wings (F) as a function of
the body mass growth rate in control fed (filled symbols, N=5) and
diet-restricted nestlings (open symbols, N=7) kept in the laboratory.
The regression line of a logistic growth curve calculated from 1050 biometric
measurements of nestlings fed by their parents in the colony is shown for
comparison in AC. In DF, the growth rate of a sample of eight
nestlings fed by their parents in the colony, of which we had biometric
measurements at the age of 12 and 16 days, is shown for comparison (open
diamonds). The growth rates were calculated for the period from the age of
1216 days. Values are means ± 1 S.E.M.
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Fig. 5. Body composition of controls (filled symbols) and diet-restricted nestlings
(open symbols) of European shags. The relationship of lipid mass (A), liver
mass (B), pectoral muscle mass (C), heart mass (D), leg muscle mass (E) and
intestine mass (F) to body mass. The axes are log-scaled, and the linear
regression lines are shown for each treatment group. Organ and body masses are
lean dry (Ld) masses in g, and lipid mass is dry mass in g.
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2004