Bergmann's Rule, Seasonality, and Geographic Variation in Body Size of House Sparrows

Murphy, Edward C.

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1985.tb05698.x

Cited by 103 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Seasonality of temperature, however, is the only climatic variable studied thus far that is significantly correlated with sparrow body size in both Europe and North America (20). Collectively, these and other data (20)(21)(22)(23)(24) suggest larger body size may be a thermoregulatory adaptation to severe, seasonal, or unpredictable climates.…”

mentioning

confidence: 65%

“…As an example, much of the intracontinental size variation in introduced and native populations of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is correlated with geographic variation in temperature and humidity (17)(18)(19). Seasonality of temperature, however, is the only climatic variable studied thus far that is significantly correlated with sparrow body size in both Europe and North America (20). Collectively, these and other data (20)(21)(22)(23)(24) suggest larger body size may be a thermoregulatory adaptation to severe, seasonal, or unpredictable climates.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Graves

1991

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Critical correlative support for Bergmann's ecogeographic rule is provided by symmetrical patterns of size variation in Diglossa carbonaria, a tropical passerine bird whose geographic range in the Andes Mountains of South America straddles the equator. Body size is positively correlated with latitude both north and south of the equator. Moreover, parapatric taxa that exhibit either partial (northwestern Bolivia) or complete (northern Peru) reproductive isolation converge in body size. Relative uniformity in the length of the highly modified flower-piercing bill among populations of D. carbonaria that differ significantly in body size suggests that character displacement or interspecific competition is not responsible for these patterns. These findings support the hypothesis that climate, particularly temperature seasonality, is an important environmental determinant of geographic size variation in homeotherms. In addition they demonstrate that clinal variation correlated with subtle climatic gradients can occur in tropical environments.

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mentioning

confidence: 65%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Graves

1991

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…In contrast to explanations based on surface/volume ratios, the fasting endurance hypothesis is based on a relationship between starvation time and body mass that is derived from total units, and therefore can be interpreted with respect to both total and mass-specific rates of metabolism (McNab, 1999). This hypothesis has received correlative support from studies of intraspecific variation in temperate zone rodents (Boyce, 1978;Owen, 1989), marsupials (Quin et al, 1996), and passerine birds (Murphy, 1985). The fasting-endurance hypothesis deserves serious attention in nonmigratory tropical frugivores and nectarivores that rely on the sequential overlap of fruiting and flowering peaks in different plant species throughout the annual cycle.…”

Section: Geographic Variation In Body Sizementioning

confidence: 91%

Clinal variation in body size and sexual dimorphism in an Indian fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)

Storz

Balasingh²,

Bhat

et al. 2001

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

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Geographic variation in body size and sexual dimorphism of the short‐nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) was investigated in peninsular India. Bats were sampled at 12 localities along a 1200 km latitudinal transect that paralleled the eastern flanks of the Western Ghats. The geographic pattern of variation in external morphology of C. sphinx conforms to the predictions of Bergmann's Rule, as indicated by a steep, monotonic cline of increasing body size from south to north. This study represents one of the first conclusively documented examples of Bergmann's Rule in a tropical mammal and confirms that latitudinal clines in body size are not exclusively restricted to temperate zone homeotherms. Body size was indexed by a multivariate axis derived from principal components analysis of linear measurements that summarize body and wing dimensions. Additionally, length of forearm was used as a univariate index of structural size to examine geographic variation in a more inclusive sample of bats across the latitudinal transect. Multivariate and univariate size metrics were strongly and positively correlated with body mass, and exhibited highly concordant patterns of clinal variation. Stepwise multiple regression on climatological variables revealed that increasing size of male and female C. sphinx was associated with decreasing minimum temperature, increasing relative humidity, and increasing seasonality. Although patterns of geographic size variation were highly concordant between the sexes, C. sphinx also exhibited a latitudinal cline in the magnitude and direction of sexual size dimorphism. The size differential reversed direction across the latitudinal gradient, as males averaged larger in the north, and females averaged larger in the south. The degree of female‐biased size dimorphism across the transect was negatively correlated with body size of both sexes. Canonical discriminant analysis revealed that male‐ and female‐biased size dimorphism were based on contrasting sets of external characters. Available data on geographic variation in the degree of polygyny in C. sphinx suggests that sexual selection on male size may play a role in determining the geographic pattern of sexual size dimorphism.

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“…In particular, combined effects of temperature and humidity (James 1970), annual evapotranspiration as a measure of productivity (Rosenzweig 1968a,b), and seasonality (Boyce 1978(Boyce , 1979Lindstet and Boyce 1985) are hypothesized to better explain size variation in vertebrates. Few studies have compared all of these variables as predictors of size variation in single species, yet in each case seasonality better explained size variation than other variables (Boyce 1978;Murphy 1985;Wigginton and Dobson 1999;Ashton 2001b).…”

Section: Body Size Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

BERGMANN's RULE IN NONAVIAN REPTILES: TURTLES FOLLOW IT, LIZARDS AND SNAKES REVERSE IT

Ashton¹,

Feldman²

2003

Evolution

385

228

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Abstract. Bergmann's rule is currently defined as a within-species tendency for increasing body size with increasing latitude or decreasing environmental temperature. This well-known ecogeographic pattern has been considered a general trend for all animals, yet support for Bergmann's rule has only been demonstrated for mammals and birds. Here we evaluate Bergmann's rule in two groups of reptiles: chelonians (turtles) and squamates (lizards and snakes). We perform both nonphylogenetic and phylogenetic analyses and show that chelonians follow Bergmann's rule (19 of 23 species increase in size with latitude; 14 of 15 species decrease in size with temperature), whereas squamates follow the converse to Bergmann's rule (61 of 83 species decrease in size with latitude; 40 of 56 species increase in size with temperature). Size patterns of chelonians are significant using both nonphylogenetic and phylogenetic methods, whereas only the nonphylogenetic analyses are significant for squamates. These trends are consistent among major groups of chelonians and squamates for which data are available. This is the first study to document the converse to Bergmann's rule in any major animal group as well as the first to show Bergmann's rule in a major group of ectotherms. The traditional explanation for Bergmann's rule is that larger endothermic individuals conserve heat better in cooler areas. However, our finding that at least one ectothermic group also follows Bergmann's rule suggests that additional factors may be important. Several alternative processes, such as selection for rapid heat gain in cooler areas, may be responsible for the converse to Bergmann's rule in squamates.

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Bergmann's Rule, Seasonality, and Geographic Variation in Body Size of House Sparrows

Cited by 103 publications

References 17 publications

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

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

Clinal variation in body size and sexual dimorphism in an Indian fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)

BERGMANN's RULE IN NONAVIAN REPTILES: TURTLES FOLLOW IT, LIZARDS AND SNAKES REVERSE IT

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