Cold Climates and Big Offspring

Courtesy Peter H. Niewiarowski

In a study published in The American Naturalist, researchers have determined that animals in colder environments produce bigger offspring than those in warmer environments.

Using a new statistical approach that can test multiple theories simultaneously, the researchers concluded that the large size of young lizards in colder environments is due to the large size of their mothers.

Females in colder environments grow larger in order to have enough energy to reproduce in the cold.

Image: A pregnant female of Sceloporus undulatus basking on a rocky slope in Ohio.

Learn more about this study:

• Why Do Cold Animals Make Bigger Babies? Science Daily