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Research | Open Access

Bergmann's rule and Allen's rule in two passerine birds in China

Liqing Fan1,2,3, Tianlong Cai1,2, Ying Xiong1,2, Gang Song1, Fumin Lei1,2,4( )
Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology in Tibet Plateau of Ministry of Education, Institute of Tibet Plateau Ecology, Tibet Agriculture & Animal Husbandry University, Nyingchi 860000, China
Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
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Abstract

Background

Animals that live at higher latitudes/elevations would have a larger body size (Bergmannos rule) and a smaller appendage size (Allenos rule) for thermoregulatory reasons. According to the heat conservation hypothesis, large body size and small appendage size help animals retain heat in the cold, while small body size and large appendage size help them dissipate heat in the warm. For animals living in seasonal climates, the need for conserving heat in the winter may tradeoff with the need for dissipating heat in the summer. In this study, we tested Bergmannos rule and Allenos rule in two widely-distributed passerine birds, the Oriental Magpie (Pica serica) and the Oriental Tit (Parus minor), across geographic and climatic gradients in China.

Methods

We measured body size (body mass and wing length) and appendage size (bill length and tarsus length) of 165 Oriental Magpie and 410 Oriental Tit individuals collected from Chinese mainland. We used linear mixed-effect models to assess variation patterns of body size and appendage size along geographic and climatic gradients.

Results

Oriental Magpies have a larger appendage size and Oriental Tits have a smaller body size in warmer environments. Appendage size in Oriental Magpies and body size in Oriental Tits of both sexes were more closely related to the climates in winter than in summer. Minimum temperature of coldest month is the most important factor related to bill length and tarsus length of male Oriental Magpies, and wing length of male and female Oriental Tits. Bill length and tarsus length in female Oriental Magpies were related to the annual mean temperature and mean temperature of coldest quarter, respectively.

Conclusions

In this study, Oriental Magpies and Oriental Tits followed Allenos rule and Bergmanno rule respectively. Temperatures in the winter, rather than temperatures in the summer, drove morphological measurements in Oriental Magpies and Oriental Tits in Chinese mainland, demonstrating that the morphological measurements reflect selection for heat conservation rather than for heat dissipation.

Keywords

Body sizeThermoregulationGeographic variationAppendage size

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Avian Research
Volume 10 Issue 1,
January 2019
Article number: 34
DOI: 10.1186/s40657-019-0172-7
Cite this article:
Fan L, Cai T, Xiong Y, et al. Bergmann's rule and Allen's rule in two passerine birds in China. Avian Research, 2019, 10(1): 34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-019-0172-7

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Received: 28 April 2019
Accepted: 18 August 2019
Published: 13 September 2019
© The Author(s) 2019.

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