A test of Allen’s rule in subterranean mammals: the genus Ctenomys (Caviomorpha, Ctenomyidae)
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Claudio J. Bidau
,
Dardo A. Martí
Abstract
We tested the applicability of Allen’s rule in 47 species and 32 unnamed forms (populations that are probably good species or undefined taxa within a superspecies or species group) of the South American subterranean Hystricomorph rodents of the genus Ctenomys (tuco-tucos) (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) by analyzing tail length in relation with head and body length, and body mass. Tail length allometry was analyzed by Reduced Major Axis regression while the possible correlation of relative tail length with temperature, precipitation and evapotranspiration variables was explored through Simultaneous Autoregression to account for spatial autocorrelations. Our results indicate that tuco-tucos do not follow Allen’s rule but its converse, tail proportion relative to body mass increasing with latitude while body size decreases in the same direction (the trend is similar for tail length relative to head and body length but not statistically significant). Regarding climatic variables, the main predictors of relative tail length were temperature and evapotranspiration variables with trends confirming the positive (non-Allenian) correlation of relative tail length with latitude. We conclude that tuco-tucos, being almost fully subterranean, thermoregulate behaviorally by maintaining constant temperatures within their burrows independent of geographic location. The former confirms previous results that indicated that Ctenomys follows the converse to Bergmann’s rule. Relative tail length variation would be a result of simple allometric growth.
©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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- Book Reviews
- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Original Studies
- A test of Allen’s rule in subterranean mammals: the genus Ctenomys (Caviomorpha, Ctenomyidae)
- Effect of seed availability on hoarding behaviors of Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus) in semi-natural enclosures
- Frugivory patterns and seed dispersal by golden-headed lion tamarins (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) in Una Biological Reserve, Bahia, Brazil
- Abundance of Callicebus barbarabrownae (Hershkovitz 1990),(Primates: Pitheciidae) and other nonvolant mammals in a fragment of arboreal Caatinga in northeastern Brazil
- Medium to large-sized mammals in agricultural landscapes of south-eastern Brazil
- Distribution, population size and morphometrics of the giant-striped mongoose Galidictis grandidieri Wozencraft 1986 in the sub-arid zone of south-western Madagascar
- Selectivity of mammalian predator control in managed hunting areas: an example in a Mediterranean environment
- Short Notes
- Dense-sampling reveals a complex distributional pattern between the southernmost marsupials Lestodelphys and Thylamys in Patagonia, Argentina
- Occurrence of Marmosa waterhousei in the Venezuelan Andes, with comments on its biogeographic significance
- High elevation records of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in Jalisco, Mexico
- The influence of habitat structure on the European brown hare Lepus europaeus food habits in mountainous areas of northern Greece
- Sites with reduced predation risk to young hares within an agricultural landscape
- Book Reviews
- Book reviews
