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By the Ordovician , trilobites such as Dindymene didymograpti had taken on a fixed number of thoracic segments .
Rosa's rule , also known as Rosa's law of progressive reduction of variability ,[ 1] is a biological rule that observes the tendency to go from character variation in more primitive representatives of a taxonomic group or clade to a fixed character state in more advanced members. An example of Rosa's rule is that the number of thoracic segments in adults (or holaspids ) may vary in Cambrian trilobite species, while from the Ordovician the number of thoracic segments is constant in entire genera, families, and even suborders.[ 2] Thus, a trend of decreasing trait variation between individuals of a taxon as the taxon develops across evolutionary time can be observed. The rule is named for Italian paleontologist Daniele Rosa .[ 3]
Rules
Allen's rule Shorter appendages in colder climates
Bateson's rule Extra limbs mirror their neighbours
Bergmann's rule Larger bodies in colder climates
Cope's rule Bodies get larger over time
Deep-sea gigantism Larger bodies in deep-sea animals
Dollo's law Loss of complex traits is irreversible
Eichler's rule Parasites co-vary with their hosts
Emery's rule Insect social parasites are often in same genus as their hosts
Fahrenholz's rule Host and parasite phylogenies become congruent
Foster's rule (Insular gigantism , Insular dwarfism ) Small species get larger, large species smaller, after colonizing islands
Gause's law Complete competitors cannot coexist
Gloger's rule Lighter coloration in colder, drier climates
Haldane's rule Hybrid sexes that are absent, rare, or sterile, are heterogamic
Harrison's rule Parasites co-vary in size with their hosts
Hamilton's rule Genes increase in frequency when relatedness of recipient to actor times benefit to recipient exceeds reproductive cost to actor
Kleiber's law An animals metabolic rate decreases with its size
Hennig's progression rule In cladistics, the most primitive species are found in earliest, central, part of group's area
Jarman–Bell principle The correlation between the size of an animal and its diet quality; larger animals can consume lower quality diet
Jordan's rule Inverse relationship between water temperature and no. of fin rays, vertebrae
Lack's principle Birds lay only as many eggs as they can provide food for
Rapoport's rule Latitudinal range increases with latitude
Rensch's rule Sexual size dimorphism increases with size when males are larger, decreases with size when females are larger
Rosa's rule Groups evolve from character variation in primitive species to a fixed character state in advanced ones
Schmalhausen's law A population at limit of tolerance in one aspect is vulnerable to small differences in any other aspect
Thayer's law The top of an animals coloration is darker than the bottom
Thorson's rule No. of eggs of benthic marine invertebrates decreases with latitude
Van Valen's law Probability of extinction of a group is constant over time
von Baer's laws Embryos start from a common form and develop into increasingly specialised forms
Williston's law Parts in an organism become reduced in number and specialized in function
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