How body size of anuran amphibians varies along gradients in the Atlantic Forest?
For centuries, researchers have sought to understand the patterns of species diversity on the planet. Inserted in this field is the study of the distribution of morphological characters in space, known as ecogeographic patterns. A well-known pattern is the Bergmann Rule, which suggests that endothermic vertebrates are larger at higher latitude sites because they have lower temperatures. However, in ectotherms, the variation in body size has not been attributed solely to temperature. Numerous hypotheses have been suggested to elucidate this question. We propose in this project to explore the variation of anuran body size along climatic gradients in the Atlantic Forest to test previously proposed hypotheses. The Atlantic Forest is interesting to explore body size variation, as its topography and extension imply climatic variations. Six endemic Atlantic Forest species from different phylogenetic groups were used, from which rostro-cloacal length and robustness measurements were taken. The measurements were related to bioclimatic variables derived from temperature, precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. Different body size patterns were found among the selected species and body dimensions analyzed. To explain the patterns, distinct climate variables were related. Thus, it is understood that body size variation is dependent on different life history, physiological, biological and ecological characteristics among species. Thus, care is needed in the search for global patterns of variation, as certain intrinsic properties of species may be essential in understanding the variation of their dimensions.