allometryn.
/əˈlɒmᵻtri/, U.S. /əˈlɑmətri/ Biology.
1. In the terminology of H. F. Osborn: (measurement of) the evolutionary change in the relative size of body parts, esp. in the context of skull morphology. disused. Cf. allomorphosis n. 2.
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1912 H. F. Osborn in Amer. Naturalist 46 263 Allometry (i.e., the measurement of allometrons) here applies to the skull as a whole.
1925 H. F. Osborn in Science 15 May 524/1 The principle of allometry or change of proportion.
2. The growth of body parts at different rates; the relationship between absolute body size or mass and the relative size, shape, and proportion of the parts of the body; (hence also, by extension) the effect of body size on physiology, behaviour, etc.; an instance of this. Also: the study of these relationships.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [noun] > growth > rates of growth
heterauxesis1886
heterogony1927
growth-gradient1929
isogony1932
allometry1936
isometry1950
1936 J. Huxley & G. Teissier in Nature 9 May 780/2 To denote growth of a part at a different rate from that of a body as a whole or of a standard, we propose the term allometry.
1936 J. Huxley & G. Teissier in Nature 9 May 780/2 Positive and negative allometry denote respectively growth-rates of the part above and below that of the standard.
1981 Oecologia 49 340 Among four species of Hawaiian Honeycreepers.., standard metabolic rate..was positively related to body mass, the opposite of that predicted by conventional endothermic allometry.
1989 Jrnl. Zool. 219 277 The increase in wing-loadings with body mass in Recent penguins reflects an interspecific allometry of wing area with body mass.
2007 S. A. Rice Encycl. Evol. 15/1 Allometry is a mathematical bridge between biology and engineering.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1912