To Chew or Not to Chew: Fecal Particle Size in Herbivorous Reptiles and Mammals
To Chew or Not to Chew: Fecal Particle Size in Herbivorous Reptiles and Mammals
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DOI：
10.1002/jez.629
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发表时间：
2010-11-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Clauss, Marcus
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Fritz, Julia;Hummel, Juergen;Clauss, Marcus
爬行动物和哺乳动物之间的一个主要区别是食草动物不咀嚼食物。事实上，通过咀嚼减小食物颗粒尺寸通常被认为是促进哺乳动物更高代谢率的适应之一。然而，据我们所知，迄今为止还没有进行过分支之间的摄食物颗粒大小的定量比较。我们测量了平均粪便颗粒大小（MPS）在79个圈养的14种爬行动物草食动物物种（龟，蜥蜴，和Corucia zebrata）的湿筛，并与哺乳动物数据集的结果进行了比较。MPS增加与体重在这两个分支，但在一个显着更高的水平在爬行动物。有限的证据表明，在自由放养和圈养个体的Testudo hermanni在爬行动物，作物食物和食物颗粒大小的能力显着影响粪便颗粒大小。胃和肠内容物之间的剧烈颗粒尺寸差异的机会性观察证实了在爬行动物中，与陆生哺乳动物相反，胃肠道中确实发生了显著的摄食颗粒尺寸减小，这很可能是由于在很长时间的摄食保留期间的微生物作用。控制摄食颗粒大小的行为适应，如故意咬小的尺寸，在爬行动物的适应策略仍有待研究。J. Exp. Zool.313A：579-586，2070. (C)2010 Wiley-Liss，Inc.
A major difference between reptile and mammalian herbivores is that the former do not masticate their food. Actually, food particle size reduction by chewing is usually considered one of the adaptations facilitating the higher metabolic rates of mammals. However, quantitative comparisons of ingesta particle size between the clades have, to our knowledge, not been performed so far. We measured mean fecal particle size (MPS) in 79 captive individuals of 14 reptile herbivore species (tortoises, lizards, and Corucia zebrata) by wet sieving and compared the results with a mammalian dataset. MPS increased with body mass in both clades, but at a significantly higher level in reptiles. Limited evidence in free-ranging and captive individuals of Testudo hermanni indicates that in reptiles, the ability to crop food and food particle size significantly influence fecal particle size. The opportunistic observation of a drastic particle size difference between stomach and intestinal contents corroborates findings that in reptiles, in contrast to terrestrial mammals, significant ingesta particle size reduction does occur in the gastrointestinal tract, most likely owing to microbial action during very long ingesta retention. Whether behavioral adaptations to controlling ingesta particle size, such as deliberate small bite sizes, are adaptive strategies in reptiles remains to be investigated. J. Exp. Zool. 313A:579-586, 2070. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.