Not playing by the rules : mixed support of ecogeographic rules in an arid-adapted African ground squirrel

dc.contributor.authorLaFleche, L.J.
dc.contributor.authorWaterman, Jane M.
dc.date.accessioned2021-08-31T10:17:07Z
dc.date.available2021-08-31T10:17:07Z
dc.date.issued2020-10
dc.description.abstractBody size impacts nearly all aspects of an animal's life and can be subject to considerable variation in response to differences in climate and resource availability. We studied the impact of temperature and resource availability on arid-living Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris), relative to body size and degree of sexual dimorphism, over three locations differing in annual rainfall and temperature to test Bergmann's rule, the resource rule and Rensch's rule. We found that squirrels were the largest where resources were the highest and temperatures were the lowest but squirrels were similar in mass where resources were medium or low and temperatures medium and highest, partially supporting Bergmann's rule and the resource rule. Hind-feet were the largest where resources were medium and temperatures were medium and similarly small in low and high resource and high- and low-temperature areas. The degree of sexual dimorphism of hind-foot and mass was constant no matter the resource abundance or temperature, suggesting no impact of resource availability or temperature on the degree of sexual dimorphism, contradicting Rensch's rule. Our findings suggest that, while resource availability and temperature may have an impact on body size, other mechanisms may be important in limiting both body size and degree of sexual dimorphism in this species.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Instituteen_ZA
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomologyen_ZA
dc.description.librarianhj2021en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the University of Manitoba Faculty of Science Field Work Support Program.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttps://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14697998en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationLaFlèche, L.J. & Waterman, J.M. 2020, 'Not playing by the rules: mixed support of ecogeographic rules in an arid-adapted African ground squirrel', Journal of Zoology, vol. 312, no. 2, pp. 94-101.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0952-8369 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1469-7998 (online)
dc.identifier.otherc.org10.1111/jzo.12810
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/81553
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherWileyen_ZA
dc.rights© 2020 The Zoological Society of London. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article :'Not playing by the rules: mixed support of ecogeographic rules in an arid-adapted African ground squirrel', Journal of Zoology, vol. 312, no. 2, pp. 94-101, 2020, doi : c.org10.1111/jzo.12810. The definite version is available at : https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14697998.en_ZA
dc.subjectCape ground squirrel (Xerus inauris)en_ZA
dc.subjectBergmann's ruleen_ZA
dc.subjectRensch's ruleen_ZA
dc.subjectResource ruleen_ZA
dc.subjectHind-footen_ZA
dc.subjectSexual dimorphismen_ZA
dc.subjectEcogeographic varianceen_ZA
dc.subjectBody sizeen_ZA
dc.titleNot playing by the rules : mixed support of ecogeographic rules in an arid-adapted African ground squirrelen_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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