Leuckart's law is an
empirical law
Scientific laws or laws of science are statements, based on reproducibility, repeated experiments or observations, that describe or prediction, predict a range of natural phenomena. The term ''law'' has diverse usage in many cases (approximate, a ...
in
zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...
that states that the size of the eye of an animal is related to its maximum speed of movement; fast-moving animals have larger eyes, after allowing for the effects of
body mass
Human body weight is a person's mass or weight.
Strictly speaking, body weight is the measurement of weight without items located on the person. Practically though, body weight may be measured with clothes on, but without shoes or heavy accesso ...
. The hypothesis dates from 1876,
[ and in older literature is usually referred to as Leuckart's ratio.][ It was proposed by ]Rudolf Leuckart
Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart (7 October 1822 – 22 February 1898) was a German zoologist born in Helmstedt. He was a nephew to naturalist Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart (1794–1843).
Academic career
He earned his degree from the Uni ...
in 1876.[
]
Criticism
A study of 88 bird species, published in 2011, found no useful correlation between flight speed and eye size.[
]
References
External links
*
Empirical laws
Eponyms
Zoology
Ornithology
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