Eichler's rule
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/EichlersRule.jpg/320px-EichlersRule.jpg)
Eichler's rule is one of several coevolutionary rules which states that parasites tend to be highly specific to their hosts, and thus it seems reasonable to expect a positive co-variation between the taxonomic richness of hosts and that of their parasites.
History
A rule to describe the taxonomic relationship between parasites and their hosts was developed in 1942 by Wolfdietrich Eichler (1912–1994), a German authority in zoology and parasitology who served as a professor of parasitology at Leipzig University.[1][2] The principle was later dubbed 'Eichler's rule'. It is one of the first three coevolutionary rules, created in opposition to Heinrich Fahrenholz's anti-Darwinian research into coevolution.[3]
Research
As a part of their 2012 study, Vas and his co-authors tested Eichler's rule, and concluded that exceptionally strong correlational evidence supports the positive co-variation between the species richness of avian and mammalian families and the generic richness of their parasitic lice.[4]
In volume nine of Advances in Parasitology, parasitologist W. Grant Inglis posited that, when studying the co-variation between the taxonomic richness of hosts and parasites, it is easier to study parasites than free-living host organisms.[5]
References
- ^ Eichler, Wolfdietrich (1966). "Two New Evolutionary Terms for Speciation in Parasitic Animals". Systematic Zoology. 15 (3): 216–218. doi:10.2307/2411393. ISSN 0039-7989. JSTOR 2411393. PMID 5924358.
- ^ Eichler, W. (1942). "Die Entfaltungsregel und andere Gesetzmäßigkeiten in den parasitogenetischen Beziehungen der Mallophagen und anderer ständiger Parasiten zu ihren Wirten" (PDF). Zoologischer Anzeiger. 136: 77–83. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-04. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
- ^ Klassen, G. J. (1992). "Coevolution: a history of the macroevolutionary approach to studying host-parasite associations". The Journal of Parasitology. 78 (4): 573–587. doi:10.2307/3283532. ISSN 0022-3395. JSTOR 3283532. PMID 1635016.
- ^ Vas, Z.; Csorba, G.; Rozsa, L. (2012). "Evolutionary co-variation of host and parasite diversity – the first test of Eichler's rule using parasitic lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera)" (PDF). Parasitology Research. 111 (1): 393–401. doi:10.1007/s00436-012-2850-9. PMID 22350674. S2CID 14923342.
- ^ Advances in Parasitology. Academic Press. 1971-03-31. ISBN 978-0-08-058055-5.
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- 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
![Bergmann's rule illustrated with a map and graph](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Bergmann%27s_Rule.svg/160px-Bergmann%27s_Rule.svg.png)
- Countergradient variation Where genetics opposes environment as a factor
- Gigantothermy Large ectothermic animals more easily maintain constant body temperature