In the end

Post date: Aug 13, 2012 8:04:42 PM

This summer I learned so much regarding the importance of body size, specifically marine invertebrates like snails. I found that body size influences almost every aspect of an organism and its biology including how it interacts with the environment, its physiology, and population dynamics. I studied the shell size of modern forams with respect to latitude for those living off the North American Pacific Coast from Oregon to Alaska. Our results show that the mean test volume remains constant across these 20 degrees of latitude. Although the mean test size of forams do not vary, the maximum test size increased slightly toward higher latitudes. This finding does not necessarily refute Bergmann's rule, but suggests that there are other environmental parameters that might be driving foraminiferal test distributions, such as the salinity, oxygen concentrations, food availability, or seafloor substrate. I would like to thank the Paleobiology lab group and the other interns for such an amazing experience! I will be continuing to work in the lab during the fall to gather data and draw conclusions from the region of Panama, so, I can look at the entire Pacific Coast.