Allen's Rule

Allen's rule is a biological rule posited by Joel Asaph Allen in 1877. It states that endotherms from colder climates usually have shorter limbs (or appendages) than the equivalent animals from warmer climates.

Read more about Allen's Rule:  Theory, Mechanism, In Humans, Examples in The Animal Kingdom, Other Factors

Famous quotes containing the words allen and/or rule:

    She knows there’s no success like failure
    And that failure’s no success at all.
    Bob Dylan [Robert Allen Zimmerman] (b. 1941)

    Rules and particular inferences alike are justified by being brought into agreement with each other. A rule is amended if it yields an inference we are unwilling to accept; an inference is rejected if it violates a rule we are unwilling to amend. The process of justification is the delicate one of making mutual adjustments between rules and accepted inferences; and in the agreement achieved lies the only justification needed for either.
    Nelson Goodman (b. 1906)