Bergmann's rule analysis in Platyrrhini

• Grant number: 22/06505-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2022
• End date: June 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Gabriel Henrique Marroig Zambonato
• Grantee: Vítor Craveiro Fusco
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Platyrrhini are the only representative primates, other than humans, that inhabit the Americas. Endemic to this continent, the Platyrrhini are divided into, at least, 110 species (Marroig & Cheverud, 2005) and 19 genera (Rylands & Mittermeier, 2009). Since their arrival on the American continent, around 40 million years ago, the Platyrrhini have undergone great size, diet, and morphological diversifications. The evolution of the large diversity of size present in Platyrrhini is generally associated with the group's diet evolution (Marroig & Cheverud, 2005). However, other factors may have influenced their size evolution, such as temperature, which affects the endotherm's body size evolution due to the loss of thermal energy rate from the animals to the environment. Larger animals, with smaller area/volume ratios, lose less thermal energy to the environment than smaller animals, with larger area/volume ratios. Thus, there is a tendency that, among animals with close phylogenetic relationships, or among individuals of the same species, those with larger body sizes inhabit regions with lower temperatures - a hypothesis known as Bergmann's Rule. The main goal of this project is to evaluate if the Bergmann's Rule is observed in Platyrrhini, based on the correlation, done mainly through the R program, between the size of the specimen, obtained by measuring the skulls of over 4000 specimens, and the latitude and average temperature of the place where they were collected.(AU)