Principles of Allometry

 

Corey A. Goldman, Richard R. Snell, and David Bartholomew Brown

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 1990, Volume 11

Abstract

In this computer-assisted exercise first-year students explore the fundamental concept of allometry: the study of size and its consequences. Students examine the relationship between size and shape and learn how to quantify changes in proportions. They investigate how North American mammals of various sizes change proportions to compensate for changes of surface area and volume. Interactive computer programs aid each student in calculating standard dimensions from an Audubon illustration, process class data, identify lines of best-fit (using linear regression), and statistically test whether relationships between selected morphological variables exhibit isometric or allometric change.

Keywords:  volume, allometry, shape, linear regression, surface area

University of New Brunswick (1989)