Did extreme food intake rates permit sauropod gigantism? Insights from feeding trials and muzzle morphometrics.

在重建蜥脚类生物学和生态学的各个方面时，它们的摄食率被认为是一个关键因素。所有动物的食物摄入量都在一定程度上受到食物摄入量的限制。蜥脚类代表了潜在影响这一特征的各种因素的独特组合(例如，体型较大、不咀嚼和口吻尺寸)。食物摄入量受咬合大小和咬合率的影响。为了获得对蜥脚类动物摄食率的估计，该项目将收集主要现存食草动物群体(哺乳动物、鸟类和爬行动物)的数据。因此，将对不同体重和不同等级的各种动物进行喂养试验，其中包括大象、犀牛、河马、鸵鸟、鹅、乌龟和鬣蜥。他们都会得到一定批次的新鲜饲料，动物需要摄取这一批次的时间(摄食率)也会被记录下来，动物一次咬进多少(咬的大小)，动物多长时间咀嚼(咀嚼速度)，它需要多少咬的食物(咬合率)也会被测量。嘴巴尺寸被认为是决定摄食量的一个重要因素，因此本研究中所有动物的口吻长度和宽度都将通过博物馆的头骨来确定。一些蜥脚类头骨也将被测量。头骨的大小将与体重相关。除了阐明蜥脚类动物取食行为的一个重要方面外，这些数据还将支持重建蜥脚类生物学和生态学的更高水平的过程。

In reconstructions of aspects of sauropod biology and ecology, their food intake rates have been considered a crucial factor. All animals are limited in their food intake to some degree by their food intake rate. Sauropods represent a unique combination of factors potentially influencing this trait (e. g. large body size, non-chewing, and muzzle dimensions). The food intake rate is influenced by the bite size and bite rate. To obtain an estimation of food intake rates for sauropods, this project will gather data for major extant herbivore groups (mammals, birds, and reptiles). Therefore a feeding trial with various animals of different body weights and of different classes will be conducted, among others elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, ostrich, geese, tortoises, and iguana. They will all receive a definite batch of fresh forage, and the time the animal needs to ingest this batch (food intake rate) will be recorded, how much the animal ingests with one bite (bite size), how often the animal chews (chewing rate), and how many bites it needs for the ingested meal (bite rate) will also be measured. Mouth dimensions are considered as an important factor in the determination of food intake, so muzzle length and width of all animal species in this study will be determined with museum skulls. Some sauropod skulls will also be measured. Skull dimensions will be put in relation with body weight. Besides elucidating an important aspect of sauropod feeding behaviour, the data will support reconstructions of higher level processes of sauropod biology and ecology.