Functional adaptation rather than ecogeographical rules determine body-size metrics along a thermal cline with elevation in the Chinese pygmy dormouse (Typhlomys cinereus)

Publication date: Available online 3 January 2020Source: Journal of Thermal BiologyAuthor(s): Jifa Cui, Boyu Lei, Chris Newman, Shengnan Ji, Huawei Su, Christina D. Buesching, David W. Macdonald, Youbing ZhouAbstractPhenotypic plasticity is crucial for how organisms respond to variation in their environment, affecting their diversity and distribution, especially in the light of rapid environmental change. Ecogeographical rules predict an association between specific adaptive morphological and physiological traits with cooler conditions due to higher latitude, elevation, or climate change. Such ecogeographical effects are often most evident in ancient species due to continuous selective adaptation occurring over long periods of time. Here, we use the suitably ancient Chinese pygmy dormouse (Typhlomys cinereus) to test whether body-size, appendage length and heart size vary in accordance with Bergmann's, Allen's and Hesse's rule, respectively. Based on a sample of 67 adult individuals (female, n = 29; male n = 38) trapped at 37 sites transcending an elevational range from 414 to 1757 m, we tested for trait concordance with Bergmann's rule (body mass, length and SMI), Allen's rule (length of tail, foot, ear, snout), and Hesse's rule (wet and dry heart mass). Effects of elevation (and thus temperature lapse rate; calculated as 0.61 °C per 100 m) on body size, appendage length and heart size, were tested by fitting Standardized Major Axis (SMA) models. We observed s...
Source: Journal of Thermal Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: research