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Is Bergmann's Rule Valid for Mammals?

Kyle G Ashton, Mark C Tracy, Alan de Queiroz

    The American Naturalist
    |March 30, 2018
    PubMed
    Summary
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    Bergmann

    Area of Science:

    • Zoology
    • Ecology
    • Evolutionary Biology

    Background:

    • Bergmann's rule, a biogeographical principle, posits that mammal body size increases with latitude (cooler climates).
    • The rule's validity and underlying mechanisms, particularly heat conservation, have been subjects of ongoing scientific debate.
    • Previous research has yielded mixed results, necessitating a comprehensive re-evaluation.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To rigorously test the generality of Bergmann's rule across diverse mammal species.
    • To investigate the relationship between mammal body size, latitude, and ambient temperature.
    • To evaluate the hypothesis that smaller mammals exhibit stronger adherence to Bergmann's rule than larger mammals.

    Main Methods:

    • A meta-analysis was conducted, synthesizing data from numerous published studies on mammal body size and geographic distribution.
    Keywords:
    Bergmann’s rulebody sizegeographic variationmammals

    Related Experiment Videos

  • Statistical analyses examined correlations between body size and latitude, and body size and temperature across various mammalian taxa.
  • The influence of study methodology (e.g., sample size, statistical significance) on observed trends was assessed.

    • Main Results:

    • A significant majority of mammal species (78/110) exhibited a positive correlation between body size and latitude, supporting Bergmann's rule.
    • Similarly, a significant proportion of species (48/64) showed a negative correlation between body size and ambient temperature.
    • These trends were consistent across mammalian orders and families, and were not dependent on study size or statistical significance.

    Conclusions:

    • Bergmann's rule is broadly supported as a general trend in mammalian body size evolution.
    • The findings do not support the hypothesis that smaller mammals conform more strongly to the rule than larger ones.
    • The data suggest that while Bergmann's rule is a valid ecological pattern, heat conservation may not be the primary driving mechanism.