An even more interesting question is “Why are juveniles smaller than their parents?” It was raised by Ellistrand in a 1983 paper.
It isn’t clear that aging is something under evolutionary pressure. This may be what evolutionary theorists call a “spandrel” situation. It’s more about structure and mechanism, that is the shape of the landscape, than optimization in that landscape.
Isn’t it fairly obvious why juveniles are smaller? They have to fit inside the mother, or inside an egg which had to fit inside the mother. Even if the egg could potentially grow, you’re limited by the energy reserves you started with until you hatch and find more. Staying in the egg also seems very dangerous (can’t hide or run away from predators, can’t move away if temperature/water/etc levels aren’t good, etc).
I can’t tell whether or not your second paragraph is disagreeing with anything I said in my post.
An even more interesting question is “Why are juveniles smaller than their parents?” It was raised by Ellistrand in a 1983 paper.
It isn’t clear that aging is something under evolutionary pressure. This may be what evolutionary theorists call a “spandrel” situation. It’s more about structure and mechanism, that is the shape of the landscape, than optimization in that landscape.
Isn’t it fairly obvious why juveniles are smaller? They have to fit inside the mother, or inside an egg which had to fit inside the mother. Even if the egg could potentially grow, you’re limited by the energy reserves you started with until you hatch and find more. Staying in the egg also seems very dangerous (can’t hide or run away from predators, can’t move away if temperature/water/etc levels aren’t good, etc).
I can’t tell whether or not your second paragraph is disagreeing with anything I said in my post.
Perhaps I’m missing the point, but doesn’t “because the juvenile needs to fit inside at least one parent” mostly suffice as an answer?