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Clinal variation in body and cell size in a widely distributed vertebrate ectotherm

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Abstract

Bergmann’s rule states that, among conspecific populations, individuals are larger in cooler than in warmer environments as a consequence of selection related to heat conservation. Many of the most comprehensive assessments of Bergmann’s rule to date have examined clinal patterns in body size among species assemblages. Our study is a more direct test of Bergmann’s rule because we examine the pattern within a single, widely distributed species. We examined geographic variation in body and cell size in the spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata). Our analysis of 818 turtles collected from the entire range (45–28°N), indicated that body size increased with latitude; however, the relationship was driven by a population of large turtles at the northern extreme of the species’ range. When the northern population was removed from the analyses, Bergmann’s rule was not supported, and the smallest turtles occurred near the central part of the species’ distribution. Recent literature has suggested that latitudinal clines in body size may simply be a physiological byproduct of the effects of temperature on cell division, resulting in larger cells, and hence larger organisms, from cooler temperatures. Measurements of the diameter of skin cells did not support the hypothesis that cell size increases with latitude and decreases with temperature in the spotted turtle, nor was there a significant relationship between body size and cell size. Our study suggests that neither Bergmann’s rule nor cell size variation sufficiently explain the body size cline observed in the spotted turtle. We hypothesize that patterns in body size are related to variation in female size at maturity and reproductive cycles.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the National Geographic Society (Grant No. 6630-99), the Santee Cooper power company, the Chelonian Research Foundation, Sigma Xi, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the SC Wildlife Federation, a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Scholarship (to S.E.D.), and the National Science Foundation (grant no. 0090177 to T.A.M.). We thank the following museum curators who allowed us access to their collections: Craig Guyer (Auburn University Museum of Natural History), Max Nickerson (Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida), Alan Resetar (Chicago Field Museum of Natural History), Dave Rostal (Georgia Southern University, formerly the Savannah Science Museum), John Wiens (Carnegie Museum of Natural History), and George Zug (Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History). W.J. Humphries provided body size data from live turtles at his study site in West Virginia, and R. Walters and R. Leonard allowed us access to their collections of live turtles captured in southern South Carolina. In-kind support was provided by the Francis Beidler Forest National Audubon and Nature Conservancy Sanctuary (Harleyville, S.C.), and J.D. Congdon (SREL, Aiken, S.C.). J. Bixby, A. Stallings, N. Heslop, W.J. Humphries, and T.J.S. Merritt assisted with data collection. K. Hural and T.J.S. Merritt reviewed an earlier draft of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Jacqueline D. Litzgus, Sarah E. DuRant & Timothy A. Mousseau

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  1. Jacqueline D. Litzgus
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  2. Sarah E. DuRant
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  3. Timothy A. Mousseau
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Correspondence to Jacqueline D. Litzgus.

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Litzgus, J.D., DuRant, S.E. & Mousseau, T.A. Clinal variation in body and cell size in a widely distributed vertebrate ectotherm. Oecologia 140, 551–558 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1611-6

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