Small is beautiful for dwarf animals

Dwarf animals living on islands thousands of years ago evolved because of a lack of predators and competitors, and not just because their habitats were too small to support larger animals, reported the Guardian this week

Dwarf animals living on islands thousands of years ago evolved because of a lack of predators and competitors, and not just because their habitats were too small to support larger animals, reported the Guardian this week. Dr Shai Meiri (CPB) said dwarfism - a result of interaction between animals, their food and their competitors - allo wed animals s uch as elephants, hippos and deer to minimise size whilst maximising reproductive effort. "Now that we have a clear er idea a bout what drives size evolution of large mammals on islands, we hope to investigate whether similar pattern s of size and shape change exist among main land mammals, and what effect climate change has on size evolution," said Dr Meiri.

The full article can be found on the Guardian Newspaper site  .