Poor developmental conditions decrease adult body size and egg size, but not egg laying rate and survival throughout adulthood: A long-term experiment in a precocial bird

The quality of the environment during individual development is generally considered to have long-lasting effects on performance in adulthood, but this is mainly based on observational studies that cannot pinpoint the causal pathways behind such long-term effects. In this study, we performed a randomized controlled trial to test for causal effects of a poor rearing diet on performance in growth, reproduction, and survival, over the complete life course of female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). All individuals were housed under standardized conditions as adults, to allow separating effects of the developmental environment from effects of the adult environment. The poor rearing diet led to a dramatically reduced growth, which delayed the onset of reproduction, and resulted in a reduced body size throughout adulthood, as compared to a standard rearing diet. While there were no detectable effects on age-specific egg laying rate and survival, despite strong senescence in these fitness tr..., All data represent raw growth, survival and egg-laying data at various life stages over the complete lifespan of female Japanese Quail, collected from a captive population kept at the Institute of Avian Research in Wilhelmshaven, Germany., , # Poor developmental conditions decrease adult body size and egg size, but not egg laying rate and survival throughout adulthood: A long-term experiment in a precocial bird

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0gb5mkmc7](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0gb5mkmc7)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data on growth, age of sexual maturity, adult age-specific body mass, adult tarsus length, lifespan, and age-specific egg-laying rate, and egg mass, of Japanese Quail (*Coturnix japonica*), analysed in relation to their rearing diet. All individuals were bred, kept, and monitored over their complete lifespan at the Institute of Avian Research in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. 

### Files and variables

#### File: Diet\_paper\_raw\_data.xlsx

**Description:** 4 separate worksheets for 1) data on the growth in body mass for all individuals, 2) data on the adult age-specific body mass for all individuals, 3) data on the adult tarsus length, age at sexual maturity, and lifespan of all individuals, ...,