Reglen er opkaldt efter en [[Tyskland|tysk]] biolog fra det nittende århundrede [[Carl Bergmann (anatomist)|Carl Bergmann]], som beskrev mønsteret i 1847, selv om han ikke var den første til at lægge mærke til det. Bergmanns regel anvendes oftest på pattedyr og fugle, der er [[endoterm]]e, men nogle forskere har også fundet beviser for reglen i undersøgelser af [[ektoterm]]e arter,<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Miguel Á.  |last1=Olalla-Tárraga  |first2=Miguel Á.  |last2=Rodríguez  |first3=Bradford A.  |last3=Hawkins |year=2006 |title=Broad-scale patterns of body size in squamate reptiles of Europe and North America |journal=[[Journal of Biogeography]] |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=781–793 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01435.x |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/8rh6d1qg  }}</ref><ref name="Timofeev2001">{{cite journal | last=Timofeev | first=S. F. | title=Bergmann's Principle and Deep-Water Gigantism in Marine  Crustaceans | journal=Biology Bulletin (Russian Version, Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Biologicheskaya) | volume=28 | issue=6 | pages=646–650 (Russian version, 764–768) | date=2001 | doi=10.1023/A:1012336823275 | s2cid=28016098 }}</ref> f.eks. [[myrer|myrearten]] ''leptothorax acervorum''. Mens Bergmanns regel synes at gælde for mange pattedyr og fuglearter, findes der undtagelser.<ref name="Meiri2003">{{Cite journal | doi=10.1046/j.1365-2699.2003.00837.x | title=On the validity of Bergmann's rule | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-biogeography_2003-03_30_3/page/331 | journal=Journal of Biogeography | volume=30 | issue=3 | pages=331–351 | date=2003-03-20 | last1=Meiri | first1=S. | last2=Dayan | first2=T. }}</ref><ref name="Ashton2000">{{cite journal | jstor=10.1086/303400 | title=Is Bergmann's Rule Valid for Mammals? | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-naturalist_2000-10_156_4/page/390 | date=oktober 2000 | first1=Kyle G. | last1=Ashton | last2=Tracy | first2=Mark C. | last3=Queiroz | first3=Alan de | journal=[[The American Naturalist]] | volume=156 | issue=4 | pages=390–415 | doi=10.1086/303400| pmid=29592141 | s2cid=205983729 }}</ref><ref name="Millien2006">{{cite journal  | title=Ecotypic variation in the context of global climate change: Revisiting the rules | first1=Virginie | last1=Millien | last2=Lyons | first2=S. Kathleen   | last3=Olson | first3=Link |display-authors=etal | journal=[[Ecology Letters]] | date=23. maj 2006 | volume=9 | issue=7 | pages=853–869 | doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00928.x | pmid=16796576 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
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