Rule reversal: Ecogeographical patterns of body size variation in the common treeshrew (Mammalia, Scandentia).

ABSTRACT: There are a number of ecogeographical "rules" that describe patterns of geographical variation among organisms. The island rule predicts that populations of larger mammals on islands evolve smaller mean body size than their mainland counterparts, whereas smaller-bodied mammals evolve larger size. Bergmann's rule predicts that populations of a species in colder climates (generally at higher latitudes) have larger mean body sizes than conspecifics in warmer climates (at lower latitudes). These two rules are rarely tested together and neither has been rigorously tested in treeshrews, a clade of small-bodied mammals in their own order (Scandentia) broadly distributed in mainland Southeast Asia and on islands throughout much of the Sunda Shelf. The common treeshrew, Tupaia glis, is an excellent

SUBMITTER: Sargis EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792578 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature