The Meaning, Mechanism, And Evidence Of Bergman’s Rule Essay Example for Free

The Meaning, Mechanism, And Evidence Of Bergmans Rule EssayThe publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species was the move point for nascent evolution theorists. Basically, he stated that organisms evolved into genotype or specie that breeds progenies which possess attributes of fitness, survivability, and adaptation to their environment over that of another of a relate specie. This results to new generations becoming better adapted to their environment and more likely to survive than those that are less adapted, and this difference is not due to chance (Rittner and MacCabe, 2004, p. 241). Christian Bergmann, A contemporary of Darwin published a paper which embodied his Bergmanns rule that correlates latitude with clay mass in animals. Broadly it asserts that within a species the personate mass increases with latitude and algider climate and decreases with warmer climate. The difference in size makes this a better adaptive strategy in the climatic environs these species a re found. The Mechanism of Determining Bergmans RuleChristopher Ruff of the John Hopkins University has conducted studies on variation of humans in to climate. To make it simple, Ruff views the human body as a cylinder, the diameter of which represents the width of the body, or, more specifically, the width of the pelvis the duration of the cylinder represents trunk length. The link between anatomy and climate relates to thermoregulation, or the respite between heat produced and the ability to dissipate it.This relationship translates to the ratio of the surface area to the volume of the cylinder, or body mass. In hot climates, a high-pitched ratio that is, a large surface area relative to body mass, or a slim, long trunk a facilitates heat loss. In cold climates, a low ratio that is, a small surface area relative to body mass, a bulky, short trunk allows heat retention. Differences in body breadth among human populations largely explain differences in body mass, the basis of Berg manns rule (Lewin, 2005, p. 69).Ruffs scientific studies could be summed as follows on the relationship between body breadth and latitude, Ruff concluded that pack living at high latitudes have broad bodies, as measured by the bi-iliac (pelvic) breadth those residing at low latitudes have narrow bodies on the relationship between the ratio of surface area to body mass and latitude people living at high latitudes have a low ratio as a consequence of Bergmanns rule and an increase in the length of the trunk has no effect on the ratio of surface area to body mass.