Bivariate versus multivariate allometry: A note on a paper by Jungers and German

Jungers and German (1981) found differences when they compared 1) coefficients of allometry from bivariate plots of log measurements versus log body weight with 2) those coefficients from the first principal component of the log measurements excluding body weight. It is argued here that an arbitrary choice of unit for “internal size” is all that separates these coefficients. When the unit is chosen to make internal size isometric with body weight the coefficients agree rather well.