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The pygmy mammoth is an example of insular dwarfism, a case of Foster's rule, its unusually small body size an adaptation to the limited resources of its island home.. A biological rule or biological law is a generalized law, principle, or rule of thumb formulated to describe patterns observed in living organisms.
This glossary of biology terms is a list of definitions of fundamental terms and concepts used in biology, the study of life and of living organisms.It is intended as introductory material for novices; for more specific and technical definitions from sub-disciplines and related fields, see Glossary of cell biology, Glossary of genetics, Glossary of evolutionary biology, Glossary of ecology ...
Bergmann's rule - Penguins on the Earth (mass m, height h) [1] Bergmann's rule is an ecogeographical rule that states that, within a broadly distributed taxonomic clade, populations and species of larger size are found in colder environments, while populations and species of smaller size are found in warmer regions. The rule derives from the ...
An operational taxonomic unit (OTU) is an operational definition used to classify groups of closely related individuals.The term was originally introduced in 1963 by Robert R. Sokal and Peter H. A. Sneath in the context of numerical taxonomy, where an "operational taxonomic unit" is simply the group of organisms currently being studied. [1]
Hu and Hayton in 2001 discussed whether the basal metabolic rate scale is a 2 ⁄ 3 or 3 ⁄ 4 power of body mass. The exponent of 3 ⁄ 4 might be used for substances that are eliminated mainly by metabolism, or by metabolism and excretion combined, while 2 ⁄ 3 might apply for drugs that are eliminated mainly by renal excretion.
The green box (central) may represent an evolutionary grade (paraphyletic), a group united by conservative anatomical and physiological traits rather than phylogeny. The flanking red and blue boxes are clades (i.e., complete monophyletic subtrees). A grade is a taxon united by a level of morphological or physiological complexity.
Jordan's rule (sense 1) is an ecogeographical rule that describes the inverse relationship between water temperature and meristic characteristics in various species of fish. The most commonly observed relationship is that fin ray , vertebrae , or scale numbers increase with decreasing temperature.
In maximum parsimony, Dollo parsimony refers to a model whereby a characteristic is gained only one time and can never be regained if it is lost. [8] For example, the evolution and repeated loss of teeth in vertebrates could be well-modeled under Dollo parsimony, whereby teeth made from hydroxyapatite evolved only once at the origin of vertebrates, and were then lost multiple times, in birds ...