|
Title
|
|
|
|
Bergmann's rule and the terrestrial caecilian Schistometopum thomense (Amphibia : Gymnophiona : Caeciiiidae)
| |
|
Author
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
| Question: Do caecilians follow Bergmann's rule? Hypothesis: Bergmann's rule explains the wide variation in body sizes found among populations of the terrestrial caecilian Schistometopum thomense. Field site: This is a range-wide study incorporating most terrestrial habitats throughout the island of Sao Tome in the Gulf of Guinea. Methods: We performed morphological measurements on 95 museum specimens and 187 field-collected individuals and compared them with site data from 13 separate localities on the island. Conclusions: This is the first example of a caecilian amphibian that follows Bergmann's rule. Total body mass doubles and length increases by nearly 50% up to 1050 in of altitude. This result is surprising as it occurs virtually on the equator, over a very small spatial scale (< 16 km horizontal), and within a relatively small temperature range (< 10 degrees C). |
| |
|
Language
|
|
|
|
English
| |
|
Source (journal)
|
|
|
|
Evolutionary ecology research
| |
|
Publication
|
|
|
|
2006
| |
|
ISSN
|
|
|
|
1522-0613
| |
|
Volume/pages
|
|
|
|
8
:6
(2006)
, p. 1049-1059
| |
|
ISI
|
|
|
|
000240906600007
| |
|