Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Allen's Rule

Allen's Rule

Within the same species of warm-blooded animals, individuals from populations living in colder environments usually have shorter appendages than do those from populations in warmer areas. This is because of the selective advantage it provides. Short arms, legs, and other appendages have relatively less skin surface area that can radiate heat into the surrounding environment. Subsequently, the body retains more of it. Allen's Rule is a corollary of Bergmann's Rule. Allen's Rule was named after Joel Allen, a 19th century naturalist.

This is auto-generated content. You can help to improve it.
0
Collect to Blossary

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Terms in the News

Featured Terms

Harry8L
  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 1

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Law Category: US law

Guilty until proven innocent

A new U.S. law that authorises the seizure of website domains by the U.S. government on grounds of suspected copyright violations. The seizure is ...

Contributor

Featured blossaries

Places to Visit in Zimbabwe

Category: Travel   3 5 Terms

Finance

Category: Business   2 14 Terms