Experts Say That Global Warming Makes Animals Shrink

ScreenHunter_5190 Dec. 14 05.55How global warming could cause animals to shrink

Elephants are now barely larger than soccer balls, because warm climates like Africa make animals shrink.

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ScreenHunter_5193 Dec. 14 05.59 ScreenHunter_5195 Dec. 14 06.00

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21 Responses to Experts Say That Global Warming Makes Animals Shrink

  1. diogenese2 says:

    The article negates its own headline. Higher temperature increases both growth and development, but not at the same rate. Hence, in this case, smaller size at maturity, but measured as mass over time they are larger. The consequence would be earlier sexual maturity and therefore larger population size (and probably BIOMASS). there is no link to the paper to see if this data is there.
    The evolution of warm blooded mammals means that the two factors remain coupled and large mammals inhabit all climate zones.

  2. jjreuter says:

    Although the team’s findings disagree with earlier assertions of many macro-ecologists, they clearly explain the smaller sizes associated with the ‘temperature-size rule’. They hope their work will help those investigating the potential impacts of climate change on the natural world.

    Who made up the rule? I guess the dinosaurs did not take that class. And it took 40 years to come to this conclusion?

    • davidswuk says:

      40 million years was that ??

      • jjreuter says:

        By gathering together more than 40 years of research studying the effect of temperature on these organisms, their results show that growth rate (how fast mass is accumulated) and development rate (how fast an individual passes through its life stages) are consistently decoupled in a range of species, with development being more sensitive to temperature than growth.

    • rah says:

      Limited habitat and food appear to be the primary driver on determining size. Pygmy Mammoths, Pygmy Mastodons, Pygmy elephants and Pygmy hippos all evolved in places where habitat and food were limited. Mostly on Islands.

  3. Baa Humbug says:

    The cold tends to shrink my animal…embarrassingly at times.

  4. nielszoo says:

    So that smaller, heavier, more compact humans evolve in Northern climates and taller lankier lighter humans in Southern climates which fits what I learned in anthropology is no longer valid? More body surface area to get rid of heat by surface convection and sweating or larger lungs to get rid of excess heat by transpiration evaporation is no longer needed as the evil Mann made heat can only be dissipated by reducing the surface area? Where did these people learn science.

  5. Gail Combs says:

    And they call this drivel science?

    Maybe we should chip in and send these idiots to the wilds in the Congo to take daily measurements of temperature and wildlife.

  6. davidswuk says:

    Th temperature/size rule only applies to cold blooded organisms did I not read on the first line of the September article?

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