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Rensch's rule is an allometric law concerning the relationship between the extent of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) and which sex is larger. Across species within a lineage, size dimorphism will increase with increasing body size when the male is the larger sex, and decrease with increasing average body size when the female is the larger sex.
Examples of phylogenetic lineages that appear to follow this rule include primates , pinnipeds , and artiodactyls .[ 1]
It was proposed by Bernhard Rensch in 1950.[ 2]
References
^ Fairbairn, D.J. (1997). "Allometry for Sexual Size Dimorphism: Pattern and Process in the Coevolution of Body Size in Males and Females". Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst . 28 (1): 659–687. doi :10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.28.1.659 . ^ Rensch, B. (1950). Die Abhängigkeit der relativen Sexualdifferenz von der Körpergrösse.
Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 1:58-69.
Rules
Allen's rule Shorter appendages in colder climates Bateson's rule Extra limbs mirror their neighbours Bergmann's rule Larger bodies in colder climates Cope's rule Bodies get larger over time Deep-sea gigantism Larger bodies in deep-sea animals Dollo's law Loss of complex traits is irreversible Eichler's rule Parasites co-vary with their hosts Emery's rule Insect social parasites are often in same genus as their hosts Fahrenholz's rule Host and parasite phylogenies become congruent Foster's rule (Insular gigantism , Insular dwarfism ) Small species get larger, large species smaller, after colonizing islands Gause's law Complete competitors cannot coexist Gloger's rule Lighter coloration in colder, drier climates Haldane's rule Hybrid sexes that are absent, rare, or sterile, are heterogamic Harrison's rule Parasites co-vary in size with their hosts Hamilton's rule Genes increase in frequency when relatedness of recipient to actor times benefit to recipient exceeds reproductive cost to actor Kleiber's law An animals metabolic rate decreases with its size Hennig's progression rule In cladistics, the most primitive species are found in earliest, central, part of group's area Jarman–Bell principle The correlation between the size of an animal and its diet quality; larger animals can consume lower quality diet Jordan's rule Inverse relationship between water temperature and no. of fin rays, vertebrae Lack's principle Birds lay only as many eggs as they can provide food for Rapoport's rule Latitudinal range increases with latitude Rensch's rule Sexual size dimorphism increases with size when males are larger, decreases with size when females are larger Rosa's rule Groups evolve from character variation in primitive species to a fixed character state in advanced ones Schmalhausen's law A population at limit of tolerance in one aspect is vulnerable to small differences in any other aspect Thayer's law The top of an animals coloration is darker than the bottom Thorson's rule No. of eggs of benthic marine invertebrates decreases with latitude Van Valen's law Probability of extinction of a group is constant over time von Baer's laws Embryos start from a common form and develop into increasingly specialised forms Williston's law Parts in an organism become reduced in number and specialized in function Related
