Bergmann's rule

The principle holding that in a warm-blooded animal species having distinct geographic populations, the body size of animals living in cold climates tends to be larger than in animals of the same species living in warm climates. Animals with larger bodies are generally more massive and thus produce more body heat. They also have smaller surface areas relative to their mass, resulting in a relatively lower rate of heat radiation. The Bergmann rule is named for the German biologist Karl Bergmann (1814–65).
Compare Allen's rule

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A new study led by scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Reading calls into question Bergmann's rule, an 1800s-era scientific principle stating that animals in high-latitude, cooler climates tend to be larger than close relatives living in warmer climates.

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The study started as a simple question Wilson discussed with her undergraduate advisor: Does Bergmann's rule apply to dinosaurs?

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The researchers suggest that revealing a genetic basis for Bergmann's rule helps us to understand how evolution, natural selection and climate have interacted throughout a species' history.

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Katherine Carbeck, the study's first author and a PhD candidate in the faculty of forestry, University of British Columbia, explains that body size varies predictably in many species that inhabit vastly different climatic conditions, aligning with "Bergmann's rule" which states that organisms in cooler climates tend to be larger as an adaptation to regulate body temperature.

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"However, the genetic mechanisms underlying Bergmann's rule have remained elusive until now."

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