Digestive Physiology of Crocodilians: Towards an Improved Diet and Feeding Regime for Use by the Farming Industry

鳄鱼养殖促进鳄鱼产品的可持续生产和消费，而不会伤害自然种群。该行业在澳大利亚每年的收入超过1500万美元，在全球范围内超过2亿美元。与运输和储存食物相关的成本是鳄鱼养殖场最大的支出。提高将粮食转化为增长的效率将对该行业产生积极的经济效益。功效可以通过以下方式产生：（1）增加食物吸收，（2）降低消化的能量成本，（3）生产运输和储存成本较低的新食物。该项目将直接解决前两个问题，并将为第三个问题的发展奠定基础。

Crocodile farming promotes the sustainable production and consumption of crocodile products without harming natural populations. The industry grosses over $15 million per year in Australia and $200 million worldwide. Costs associated with transporting and storing food are the single largest expense that crocodile farms have. Increases in the efficiency of converting food into growth will have positive economic benefits to the industry. Efficiencies can be produced by (1) increasing food absorption, (2) decreasing the energetic costs of digestion, and (3) producing a new food that is less expensive to ship and store. This project will directly address the first two of these and will lay the foundation for the development of the third.