Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Allometry

How reliable is the biological time clock?

Nature volume 424, pages 269–270 (2003)Cite this article

A theoretical framework that describes the effect of temperature and body size on biological processes has long been sought. Gillooly et al.1 use an elegant combination of the first principles of biochemical kinetics and allometric growth to derive a general definition of biological time by which, simply from a knowledge of how warm and how large an animal is, it is possible to calculate how long it will take to develop. Here I argue that their application of chemical kinetics in formulating the theory is problematical, undermining their claim that the theory fits the evidence.

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Effect of temperature on mass-corrected development time.

References

  1. Gillooly, J. F., Charnov, E. L., West, G. B., Savage, V. M. & Brown, J. H. Nature 417, 70–73 (2002).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Gillooly, J. F. et al. Science 293, 2248–2251 (2001).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ludwig, D. Physiol. Zool. 1, 358–389 (1928).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bělehrádek, J. Protoplasma Monographien 8 (1935).

  5. Crozier, W. J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 10, 461–464 (1924).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bělehrádek, J. Nature 118, 117–118 (1926).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Heilbrunn, L. V. Science 62, 268–269 (1925).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bělehrádek, J. Nature 118, 478–480 (1926).

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gillooly, J. F. & Dodson, S. I. Freshwat. Biol. 44, 595–604 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK

    Ángel López-Urrutia

Authors
  1. Ángel López-Urrutia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ángel López-Urrutia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

López-Urrutia, Á. How reliable is the biological time clock?. Nature 424, 269–270 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/424269a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/424269a

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing