TY - JOUR
T1 - Causes and significance of variation in mammalian basal metabolism
AU - Raichlen, David A.
AU - Gordon, Adam D.
AU - Muchlinski, Magdalena N.
AU - Snodgrass, J. Josh
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We thank C.J. Terranova for access to primate cadavers and B. Enquist and A. Foster for helpful discussions. We also thank Ian Hume and two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions. Muscle mass data collection was funded partially by a University of Texas Liberal Arts Graduate Research Grant awarded to MNM.
PY - 2010/1
Y1 - 2010/1
N2 - Mammalian basal metabolic rates (BMR) increase with body mass, whichs explains approximately 95% of the variation in BMR. However, at a given mass, there remains a large amount of variation in BMR. While many researchers suggest that the overall scaling of BMR with body mass is due to physiological constraints, variation at a given body mass may provide clues as to how selection acts on BMR. Here, we examine this variation in BMR in a broad sample of mammals and we test the hypothesis that, across mammals, body composition explains differences in BMR at a given body mass. Variation in BMR is strongly correlated with variation in muscle mass, and both of these variables are correlated with latitude and ambient temperature. These results suggest that selection alters BMR in response to thermoregulatory pressures, and that selection uses muscle mass as a means to generate this variation.
AB - Mammalian basal metabolic rates (BMR) increase with body mass, whichs explains approximately 95% of the variation in BMR. However, at a given mass, there remains a large amount of variation in BMR. While many researchers suggest that the overall scaling of BMR with body mass is due to physiological constraints, variation at a given body mass may provide clues as to how selection acts on BMR. Here, we examine this variation in BMR in a broad sample of mammals and we test the hypothesis that, across mammals, body composition explains differences in BMR at a given body mass. Variation in BMR is strongly correlated with variation in muscle mass, and both of these variables are correlated with latitude and ambient temperature. These results suggest that selection alters BMR in response to thermoregulatory pressures, and that selection uses muscle mass as a means to generate this variation.
KW - Allometric scaling
KW - Basal metabolic rate
KW - Body mass
KW - Energetics
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U2 - 10.1007/s00360-009-0399-4
DO - 10.1007/s00360-009-0399-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 19730868
AN - SCOPUS:77649295764
SN - 0174-1578
VL - 180
SP - 301
EP - 311
JO - Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology
JF - Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology
IS - 2
ER -