Variation in body size, hair length, and hair density in the deer mouse Peromyscus maniculatus along an altitudinal gradient |
| |
Authors: | David Wasserman Donald J. Nash |
| |
Affiliation: | D. Wasserman and D. J. Nash, Dept of Zoology and Entomology, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. |
| |
Abstract: | Wasserman, D. and Nash, D. J. 1979. Variation in body size, hair length, and hair density in the deer mouse Peromyscus maniculatus along an altitudinal gradient. – Holarct. Ecol. 2: 115-118. Deer mice Peromyscus maniculatus were captured along an altitudinal gradient that extended from 1524 m up to 3353 m in central Colorado during August and early September 1976. No differences were found in mean body weight along the altitudinal, gradient. Mean hair length was found to increase along the gradient up to an altitude of 2438 m where it leveled off. Hair density was higher in mice captured at 3353 m than at 1524 m. This suggests that Bergmann's Rule was not found along the altitudinal gradient and that insulation was modified in response to the cooler conditions that exist at, high altitude. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|