AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 262, Issue 3 492-R503, Copyright © 1992 by American Physiological Society
Scaling of bodily proportions in adult terrestrial mammals
J. Prothero
Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
To model body shape, a data base was constructed for body, forelimb, and
hindlimb length, surface area, and girth, each as a function of body
weight, in a diversity of mammals. These data were submitted to linear
least-squares regression analysis. In addition, data on the partitioning of
weight and surface area among the body segments (head-trunk, forelimbs, and
hindlimbs) were collected. These data imply a relatively constant
partitioning of body weight and surface area among the body segments. The
regression parameters and the body segment data were used to build and test
a model of bodily proportions. The model consists of three classes of
cylinders, each specified by a length and a diameter, representing the
three classes of body segments. The parameters of the model were
constrained to enforce geometric similarity (constant shape). The model was
found to agree reasonably well with an independent subset of the data. It
is concluded that adult land mammals do exhibit geometric similarity over a
substantial weight range.
