How to translate text using browser tools
16 May 2020 Geographic variation in body size of five Australian marsupials supports Bergmann's thermoregulation hypothesis
Alyson M. Stobo-Wilson, Teigan Cremona, Brett P. Murphy, Susan M. Carthew
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Despite a large body of research, little agreement has been reached on the ultimate driver(s) of geographic variation in body size (mass and/or length). Here we use skull length measurements (as a surrogate for body mass) from five Australian marsupial species to test the primary hypotheses of geographic variation in body size (relating to ambient temperature, productivity, and seasonality). We used a revised articulation of Bergmann's rule, wherein evidence for thermoregulation (heat dissipation or heat conservation) is considered supportive of Bergmann's rule. We modeled the skull lengths of four Petaurid glider species and the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) as a function of indices of ambient temperature, productivity, and seasonality. The skull length of Petaurus ariel, P. notatus, and the squirrel glider (P. norfolcensis), increased with increasing winter minimum temperature, while that of T. vulpecula decreased with increasing summer maximum temperature. The skull length of P. ariel decreased with indices of productivity, falsifying the productivity hypothesis. Only P. ariel met the hypothesis of seasonality, as skull length increased with increasing seasonality. Thermoregulation was the most consistently supported driver of geographic variation in body size, as we found evidence of either heat conservation or heat dissipation in four of the five species examined. We found the geographic range of the individual species and the climate space in which the species occurred was integral to understanding the species' responses to climate variables. Future studies should use specimens that are representative of a species' entire geographic range, encompass a variety of climatic regions, and use consistent methodologies and terminology when testing drivers of geographic variation in body size.

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists, www.mammalogy.org.
Alyson M. Stobo-Wilson, Teigan Cremona, Brett P. Murphy, and Susan M. Carthew "Geographic variation in body size of five Australian marsupials supports Bergmann's thermoregulation hypothesis," Journal of Mammalogy 101(4), 1010-1020, (16 May 2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa046
Received: 7 September 2019; Accepted: 13 April 2020; Published: 16 May 2020
KEYWORDS
biogeography
intraspecific variation
Mammalia
Petauridae
Phalangeroidea
size clines
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top