Special issue: Ecology of information enters the Anthropocene

RETRACTED: Female lizards (Eremias argus) reverse Bergmann's rule across altitude

“…The original explanation for Bergman's rule did not account for the peculiarity of ectotherms (Watt et al, 2010 ) in their inability to generate significant internal body heat, and consequently that a larger bodied ectotherm would therefore heat up more slowly (Stevenson, 1985 ) and would lack the ability to conserve heat in colder environments (Liang et al, 2021 ). Further, possessing larger bodies in colder environments may be deleterious to some ectotherm species (Jadin et al, 2019 ; Slavenko et al, 2021 ; Velasco et al, 2020 ), since ectotherms with large body sizes that slowly heat up in colder environments show constrained thermoregulatory behavior (Anderson et al, 2022 ; Pincheira‐Donoso et al, 2008 ; Szymkowiak & Schmidt, 2022 ).…”

“…Further, possessing larger bodies in colder environments may be deleterious to some ectotherm species (Jadin et al, 2019;Slavenko et al, 2021;Velasco et al, 2020), since ectotherms with large body sizes that slowly heat up in colder environments show constrained thermoregulatory behavior (Anderson et al, 2022;Pincheira-Donoso et al, 2008;Szymkowiak & Schmidt, 2022).…”

Living in difficult situations: Lizards living in high altitudes have smaller body sizes due to extreme climatic conditions and limited resources

“…For example, extrinsic and intrinsic factors such as temperature, habitat type, food availability, egg size, yolk reserves, and competition have all been shown to influence the body sizes of ectotherms across environments (Fischer et al, 2003;Laiolo and Obeso, 2015;Riesch et al, 2018), which ultimately can affect the reproductive ecology of ectotherms (Fielding et al, 1999;Morrison and Hero, 2003;Deme et al, 2022a). While the patterns of female body size across altitudes and environments found in our study may be a results of non-adaptive plasticity, or even fixed genetic differences between populations, we suggest that this pattern may be a result of adaptive phenotypic plasticity (Ghalambor et al, 2007;Szymkowiak and Schmidt, 2022). However, further experiments, such as common garden studies, would be needed to test this hypothesis.…”

“…Association of key life history traits, such as body size, with environmental factors shape the adaptation of species to local environments (e.g., Blackburn et al, 1999;Freckleton et al, 2003;Morrison and Hero, 2003;Pincheira-Donoso and Tregenza, 2011;Meiri et al, 2013;Volynchik, 2014;Hille and Cooper, 2015;Laiolo and Obeso 2015;Lack et al, 2016Meiri et al, 2020Velasco et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2021;Deme et al, 2022a;Giovanna et al, 2022;Szymkowiak and Schmidt, 2022). Indeed, we found that geographical patterns of female body size were influenced by the coupling effects of the seasonal and annual changes in the climatic conditions along altitudinal gradients, suggesting a possible adaptation of E. argus lizards to the changing environmental conditions.…”

“…The original explanation for Bergman's rule did not account for the peculiarity of ectotherms (Watt et al, 2010) in their inability to generate significant internal body heat, and consequently that a larger bodied ectotherm would therefore heat up more slowly (Stevenson, 1985) and would lack the ability to conserve heat in colder environments (Liang et al, 2021). Further, possessing larger bodies in colder environments may be deleterious to some ectotherm species (Jadin et al, 2019;Velasco et al, 2020;Slavenko et al, 2021); since ectotherms with large body sizes that slowly heat up in colder environments show constrained thermoregulatory behavior (Pincheira-Donoso et al, 2008;Anderson et al, 2022;Szymkowiak and Schmidt, 2022).…”