生物地理学Hone_Copes rule_TEE2005.pdfVIP

4 Update TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution Vol.20 No.1 January 2005 The evolution of large size: how does Cope’s Rule work? David W.E. Hone and Michael J. Benton Department of Earth Sciences, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol, UK, BS8 1RJ Cope’s Rule is the tendency for organisms in evolving Size and fitness lineages to increase in size over time. The concept is The results are quite startling (Figure 1): size increase detailed in many textbooks, but has rarely been demon-