Examples in The Animal Kingdom
An example of this rule among mammals is the Polar bear, Ursus maritimus; this species exhibits stocky limbs and very short ears. The limbs are predictable from a ratio of surface area to body mass, while the outer ear architecture reflects the need to minimize surface area of heat radiating elements. Populations of the same species from different latitudes may also follow Allen's rule. R.L. Nudds and S.A. Oswald (2007) of the Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology at the University of Leeds performed a study on seabird exposed length that found exposed leg length was negatively correlated with maximum environmental temperature, supporting the predictions of Allen's rule. According to a study done by J.S. Alho et al. of the Ecological Research Unit of the University of Helsinki, Finland, on the Common Frog, tibia and femur length peaked in populations indigenous to the mid latitudes, consistent with the predictions of Allen's rule for ectothermic organisms.
Read more about this topic: Allen's Rule
Famous quotes containing the words examples, animal and/or kingdom:
“In the examples that I here bring in of what I have [read], heard, done or said, I have refrained from daring to alter even the smallest and most indifferent circumstances. My conscience falsifies not an iota; for my knowledge I cannot answer.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“... found myself
myself, smaller,
not thin but thinner, nervous,
who hurries without animal calm.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.””
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 13:31,32.