-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Wayne A. Van Voorhies, BERGMANN SIZE CLINES: A SIMPLE EXPLANATION FOR THEIR OCCURRENCE IN ECTOTHERMS, Evolution, Volume 50, Issue 3, 1 June 1996, Pages 1259–1264, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1996.tb02366.x
Close - Share Icon Share
Abstract
In general ectothermic organisms grow larger at both lower temperatures and higher latitudes. Adult size in the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans reared at 10°C was approximately 33% greater than worms grown at 25°C. Nematode egg size and fish red blood cell size showed similar size increases at lower temperatures. These results indicate that body size differences in many ectotherms may simply be a consequence of developmental processes that cause cells to grow larger at lower temperatures. This would provide a general explanation for the increased size of ectotherms at lower temperatures independent of species‐specific ecology.
