| Abstract | Many vertebrates, both homeo- and poikilothermic, show a significant relationship between body size and environmental temperature. Whether such an association may exist in microscopic invertebrates has been less explored. Therefore, we decided to analyse terrestrial Tardigrada from various habitats worldwide to examine whether these animals reveal any relationship pattern between body size and environmental temperature. Data on minimum, maximum, and mean body sizes were extracted from original descriptions or sometimes from later re-descriptions of the species. Minimum, maximum, and mean temperature data from the type localities of the species were retrieved from WorldClim 2. In general, accounting for geographic and phylogenetic confounding factors, the body size of terrestrial tardigrades decreased as the environmental temperature increased. The same tendency was observed for most of the genera when additional analyses were carried out separately for each genus. This is the first biogeographical analysis demonstrating that terrestrial tardigrades generally conform to the temperature-size rule. |
| Text | 485841 2024 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad098 tardigrada How temperature affects the body size of terrestrial tardigrades ukasz Kaczmarek, Diego Fontaneto, Diane R Nelson, Anna Budka, Agnieszka acka, Tomasz Bartylak, Piotr Rzymski Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Pozna , Poland Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Ricerca Sulle Acque CNR IRSA, Verbania Pallanza, Italy Department of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, USA Department of Construction and Geoengineering, Pozna University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 28, 60 637 Pozna , Poland Department of Mathematical and Statistical Methods, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Pozna , Poland Department of Environmental Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Pozna , Poland Many vertebrates, both homeo and poikilothermic, show a significant relationship between body size and environmental temperature. Whether such an association may exist in microscopic invertebrates has been less explored. Therefore, we decided to analyse terrestrial Tardigrada from various habitats worldwide to examine whether these animals reveal any relationship pattern between body size and environmental temperature. Data on minimum, maximum, and mean body sizes were extracted from original descriptions or sometimes from later re descriptions of the species. Minimum, maximum, and mean temperature data from the type localities of the species were retrieved from WorldClim 2. In general, accounting for geographic and phylogenetic confounding factors, the body size of terrestrial tardigrades decreased as the environmental temperature increased. The same tendency was observed for most of the genera when additional analyses were carried out separately for each genus. This is the first biogeographical analysis demonstrating that terrestrial tardigrades generally conform to the temperature size rule. Published version https //academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance article abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad098/7254659 redirectedFrom=fulltext lukasz How temperature affects the body size.pdf Articolo in rivista Academic Press.. 0024 4082 Zoological journal of the Linnean Society Zoological journal of the Linnean Society Zool. j. Linn. Soc. Zoological journal of the Linnean Society. diego.fontaneto FONTANETO DIEGO |
