The Interspecific Allometry of Reproduction: Do Larger Species Invest Relatively Less in Their Offspring?

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Abstract
The cumulative amount of energy that a female invests (maternal energy investment, MI) in her young largely determines their survival and her fitness. To date much of the theory addressing the interspecific allometry of MI against body weight in mammals has been on the per unit time basis. However, the allometry of MI across a reproductive event or lifetime provides a more useful theoretical insight into constraints on MI across species of different body sizes. Two theoretical models are presented which describe the interspecific allometry of energy a female mammal allocates of MI per reproductive event and during her lifetime, in relation to her body size. If it is assumed that a female''s weight changes little during her reproductive lifespan then these models predict that the energy devoted to MI should scale at approximately 1 with body weight. In contrast to the predictions of previous authors, these models predict that females of larger species invest a similar proportion of their energy to MI as do those of smaller species.

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