Or, in general, how do we end up with large animals in harsh environments like tundra or desert? I’d naively assume that it’s advantageous to have a smaller body size and lower caloric needs in places where food is scarce. Yet neither camels nor caribou fit in my pocket.
Why aren’t austere environments populated solely by e.g. Jerboa mice?
In: Biology
One thing is volume to surface area. Larger creatures have a higher volume to surface area ratio.
Simply put for their size they have less surface to lose heat through, which is useful in cold climates.
Also larger creatures are often more energy efficient & require less nutrients than smaller creatures. This is known as Kleiber’s Law.
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