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Reply to: Shrinking body size may not provide meaningful thermoregulatory benefits in a warmer world

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 8, pages 390–391 (2024)Cite this article

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The Original Article was published on 15 January 2024

replying to A. Nord et al. Nature Ecology and Evolution https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02307-2 (2024)

The commentary by Nord et al. provides an insightful perspective on documented changes in avian body size over time, as we recently demonstrated1. We appreciate the physiological perspective of these authors, who make points with which we fully agree. For one, we agree that sex-specific responses to temperature are worth exploring—indeed, this is currently the subject of our ongoing research. We also agree that understanding the most proximate mechanisms for observed shapeshifting over time and their broader scale implications is of great scientific value.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Casey Youngflesh

  2. The Institute for Bird Populations, Petaluma, CA, USA

    James F. Saracco & Rodney B. Siegel

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Morgan W. Tingley

Authors
  1. Casey Youngflesh
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  2. James F. Saracco
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  3. Rodney B. Siegel
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  4. Morgan W. Tingley
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Contributions

C.Y., J.F.S., R.B.S. and M.W.T. conceived of and wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Casey Youngflesh.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Ecology & Evolution thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Youngflesh, C., Saracco, J.F., Siegel, R.B. et al. Reply to: Shrinking body size may not provide meaningful thermoregulatory benefits in a warmer world. Nat Ecol Evol 8, 390–391 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02308-1

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