Revisiting classic ecogeographical rules, using a widely distributed mouse species (Apodemus draco)

Abstract Ecogeographical rules predict an association between specific adaptive morphological/physiological traits and latitude, elevation or cooler climates. Such ecogeographical effects are often expressed most clearly in widely distributed species due to continuous selective adaptation occurring over their geographic range. Based on 40 population sampling sites of 116 adult individuals (female, ; male, ) across an elevational range of 191–2573 m, we tested whether morphological traits accorded with predictions of Bergmann’s rule, Allen’s rule and Hesse’s rule for the South China field mouse (Apodemus draco). The effects of elevation on body size, appendage length and heart size were tested by fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models. None conformed to Bergmann’s, Allen’s or Hesse’s rule. Clines in body size opposed Bergmann’s rule, and foot and snout length ratios opposed Allen’s rule. We conclude that South China field mice, a widely distributed species, exhibit an acute thermoregulation mechanism in which in colder conditions body sizes decrease – as opposed to altering heart sizes or surface area to volume ratios – requiring less energy to regulate body temperatures. Also, there was a stronger selective pressure to increase partial appendage lengths (i.e., foot and snout) to adapt to the specific environment (e.g. longer period of snow cover, up to 2573 m) rather than on a general shortening of appendages to cope with colder conditions.

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Bergmann's rule is invalid

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z87-164 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 1035-1038 ◽

Cited By ~ 228

Author(s):

Valerius Geist

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Surface Area ◽

Small Body ◽

Bergmann’S Rule ◽

Bergmann's Rule ◽

Large Mammals ◽

Annual Productivity ◽

Body Sizes ◽

Growth Correlations

Bergmann's rule, claiming that in homeotherms body size increases inversely with temperature so that, intraspecifically, body size increases latitudinally, is not valid, nor is the explanation of this rule. In large mammals body size at first increases with latitude, but then reverses between 53 and 65° N, so that small body sizes occur at the lowest and highest latitudes. This is predicted by the hypothesis that body size follows the duration of the annual productivity pulse, so that body size is a function of availability of nutrients and energy during periods of growth. Correlations between body size and temperature are shown to be spurious. If reduction in relative surface area is indeed an adaptation to conserve heat, then mammals should increase in size from south to north at rates two orders of magnitude greater than they do. Bergmann's rule has no basis in fact or theory.

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Bergmann’s rule and Allen’s rule in two passerine birds in China

Avian Research ◽

10.1186/s40657-019-0172-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Liqing Fan ◽

Tianlong Cai ◽

Ying Xiong ◽

Gang Song ◽

Fumin Lei

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Wing Length ◽

Chinese Mainland ◽

Bergmann’S Rule ◽

Passerine Birds ◽

Bergmann's Rule ◽

Tarsus Length ◽

Heat Conservation ◽

Allen’S Rule ◽

Bill Length

Abstract Background Animals that live at higher latitudes/elevations would have a larger body size (Bergmann’s rule) and a smaller appendage size (Allen’s rule) for thermoregulatory reasons. According to the heat conservation hypothesis, large body size and small appendage size help animals retain heat in the cold, while small body size and large appendage size help them dissipate heat in the warm. For animals living in seasonal climates, the need for conserving heat in the winter may tradeoff with the need for dissipating heat in the summer. In this study, we tested Bergmann’s rule and Allen’s rule in two widely-distributed passerine birds, the Oriental Magpie (Pica serica) and the Oriental Tit (Parus minor), across geographic and climatic gradients in China. Methods We measured body size (body mass and wing length) and appendage size (bill length and tarsus length) of 165 Oriental Magpie and 410 Oriental Tit individuals collected from Chinese mainland. We used linear mixed-effect models to assess variation patterns of body size and appendage size along geographic and climatic gradients. Results Oriental Magpies have a larger appendage size and Oriental Tits have a smaller body size in warmer environments. Appendage size in Oriental Magpies and body size in Oriental Tits of both sexes were more closely related to the climates in winter than in summer. Minimum temperature of coldest month is the most important factor related to bill length and tarsus length of male Oriental Magpies, and wing length of male and female Oriental Tits. Bill length and tarsus length in female Oriental Magpies were related to the annual mean temperature and mean temperature of coldest quarter, respectively. Conclusions In this study, Oriental Magpies and Oriental Tits followed Allen’s rule and Bergmann’ rule respectively. Temperatures in the winter, rather than temperatures in the summer, drove morphological measurements in Oriental Magpies and Oriental Tits in Chinese mainland, demonstrating that the morphological measurements reflect selection for heat conservation rather than for heat dissipation.

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An interspecific test of Bergmann's rule reveals inconsistent body size patterns across several lineages of water beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

Ecological Entomology ◽

10.1111/een.12701 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 249-254 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Susana Pallarés ◽

Michele Lai ◽

Pedro Abellán ◽

Ignacio Ribera ◽

David Sánchez-Fernández

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Bergmann’S Rule ◽

Bergmann's Rule ◽

Water Beetles

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Latitudinal body-mass trends in Oligo-Miocene mammals

Paleobiology ◽

10.1017/pab.2016.13 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 643-658

Author(s):

John D. Orcutt ◽

Samantha S. B. Hopkins

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Body Mass ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Latitudinal Gradients ◽

Bergmann’S Rule ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Bergmann's Rule ◽

Deep Time ◽

Causal Factors ◽

Primary Driver

AbstractPaleecological data allow not only the study of trends along deep-time chronological transects but can also be used to reconstruct ecological gradients through time, which can help identify causal factors that may be strongly correlated in modern ecosystems. We have applied such an analysis to Bergmann’s rule, which posits a causal relationship between temperature and body size in mammals. Bergmann’s rule predicts that latitudinal gradients should exist during any interval of time, with larger taxa toward the poles and smaller taxa toward the equator. It also predicts that the strength of these gradients should vary with time, becoming weaker during warmer periods and stronger during colder conditions. We tested these predictions by reconstructing body-mass trends within canid and equid genera at different intervals of the Oligo-Miocene along the West Coast of North America. To allow for comparisons with modern taxa, body mass was reconstructed along the same transect for modernCanisandOdocoileus. Of the 17 fossil genera analyzed, only two showed the expected positive relationship with latitude, nor was there consistent evidence for a relationship between paleotemperature and body mass. Likewise, the strength of body-size gradients does not change predictably with climate through time. The evidence for clear gradients is ambiguous even in the modern genera analyzed. These results suggest that, counter to Bergmann’s rule, temperature alone is not a primary driver of body size and underscore the importance of regional-scale paleoecological analyses in identifying such drivers.

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Bergmann's rule near the equator: latitudinal clines in body size of an Andean passerine bird.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.88.6.2322 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 88 (6) ◽

pp. 2322-2325 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

G. R. Graves

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Passerine Bird ◽

Bergmann’S Rule ◽

Bergmann's Rule ◽

Latitudinal Clines

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Bergmann’s rule for Neomys fodiens in the middle of the distribution range

Open Life Sciences ◽

10.2478/s11535-014-0348-4 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. 1147-1154 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Linas Balčiauskas ◽

Laima Balčiauskienė ◽

Uudo Timm

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

The Body ◽

Distribution Range ◽

Bergmann’S Rule ◽

Bergmann's Rule ◽

Range Analysis ◽

Skull Size ◽

Skull Measurements ◽

The Brain ◽

Neomys Fodiens

AbstractThe body size of Palearctic Sorex shrews decreases at higher latitudes, and as such the Bergmann’s rule does not work. However, no analysis has ever been done for water shrew (Neomys fodiens) in the middle of distribution range. Analysis of available literature data showed that some body and skull measurements of N. fodiens are negatively correlated to latitude. Measurements of 158 water shrews from Estonia and Lithuania were also analyzed with respect to the short scale latitudinal pattern. We found that populations are separated (Wilk’s lambda = 0.363, p<0.0001). Differences are related to PC1 (skull size), explaining 49.80% of the variance and PC2 (body size), explaining 10.06% of the variance. Estonian shrews are smaller in their body and skull (most differences significant) and their skulls are relatively shorter and wider in the area of the brain case. Thus, the negative correlation of body and skull size to latitude in N. fodiens is applicable even over quite short latitudinal distances. Further analysis of diagnostic characters between N. fodiens and N. anomalus is required.

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