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Relationships of latitude, altitude, and body size to litter size and mean annual production of offspring in Peromyscus
Author(s) -
Smith Michael H.,
McGinnis John T.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
population ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1438-390X
pISSN - 1438-3896
DOI - 10.1007/bf02510868
Subject(s) - biology , litter , altitude (triangle) , latitude , peromyscus , offspring , ecology , plant litter , zoology , geography , ecosystem , pregnancy , genetics , geometry , mathematics , geodesy
Summary Litter size was positively correlated with latitude and altitude but not with production of offspring or with body size in Peromyscus . Increased litter size in northern populations probably reflects shortening the breeding season by climate and not a greater mortality rate at northern latitudes compared to southern latitudes. Production of offspring was negatively correlated with body size but not with latitude, altitude, or litter size. This is probably due to larger species living longer and taking longer to mature.