Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: McClain CR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3565520 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
McClain Craig R CR Durst Paul A P PA Boyer Alison G AG Francis Clinton D CD
Biology letters 20121212 1
The island rule, a pattern of size shifts on islands, is an oft-cited but little understood phenomenon of evolutionary biology. Here, we explore the evolutionary mechanisms behind the rule in 184 mammal species, testing climatic, ecological and phylogenetic hypotheses in a robust quantitative framework. Our findings confirm the importance of species' ecological traits in determining both the strength and the direction of body size changes on islands. Although the island rule pattern appears rela ...[more]