The Mass-Longevity Triangle: Pareto Optimality and the Geometry of Life-History Trait Space
Fig 4
Mammalian species fall approximately in a tetrahedron when considering a higher dimensional space of life-history traits.
(a) Axes are linear combination (PCs) of: adult weight, birth weight, longevity, and female maturity. PC1 is primarily related to mass (adult weight and birth weight), PC2 to time (longevity and female maturity), and PC3 to the difference between the adult weight and birth weight. The archetypes B, S, and W are indicated, and the new fourth archetype is marked by X. Species closest to the fourth archetype are indicated. The best fit tetrahedron is indicated in grey dashed lines; vertices (archetypes) are marked in red. (b) The new archetype (X) falls near the middle of the mass-longevity triangle. (c-e) The projections of the data and tetrahedron on the three principal planes are shown for additional perspective.