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Coming to America: Acclimation in macaque body structures and Bergmann’s rule

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Abstract

I analyzed somatometric measurements from subsets of the Texas and Oregon transplanted troops of Japanese macaques(Macaca fuscata) to reveal secular changes in body size and shape. Body weights of the Texas population (N = 59) are lower than those of the Oregon population(N = 49) and the founding population from Arashiyama. The adult weights of the Oregon population are significantly higher than the founding population from Mihara. There are significant differences in adult circumferential measures and in skinfolds, which are correlated with the increased weight of the Oregon macaques. The adult Texas macaques have longer limb segments in comparison with the adult Oregon troop members, while the latter have significantly longer heads and trunks. Examination of the developing morphological trends through regression analyses on the complete sample suggests distinctive growth patterns for each population. Members of the Texas population start with smaller initial measurements but hold a steeper growth pattern for limb segments, while the Oregon macaques start larger in most measures and show lower growth rates. I argue that these differences in both somatometry and growth patterns are related to the differing climatic conditions under which the translocated macaques have lived. This set of analyses supports the basic arguments for Bergmann’s rule and Allen’s rule.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, T2N 1N4, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    J. D. Paterson

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Paterson, J.D. Coming to America: Acclimation in macaque body structures and Bergmann’s rule. Int J Primatol 17, 585–611 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02735193

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02735193

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