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方面，它们的食物摄取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其食物摄入率的限制。蜥脚类动物代表了可能影响这一特征的因素的独特组合（e。G.体型大，不咀嚼，口吻尺寸）。食物摄入率受咬口大小和咬口率的影响。为了估计蜥脚类动物的食物摄入率，该项目将收集现存主要食草动物群体（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类别的各种动物进行饲养试验，其中包括大象、犀牛、河马、鸵鸟、鹅、乌龟和鬣蜥。他们都将获得一批确定的新鲜饲料，并记录动物需要摄入这批饲料的时间（摄食率），动物一口摄入多少（咬口大小），动物咀嚼的频率（咀嚼率），以及摄入的食物需要多少口（咬口率）也将被测量。口部尺寸被认为是确定食物摄入量的重要因素，因此本研究中所有动物物种的口部长度和宽度都将使用博物馆头骨来确定。一些蜥脚类恐龙的头骨也将被测量。头骨尺寸将与体重相关。除了阐明蜥脚类动物摄食行为的一个重要方面，这些数据将支持重建蜥脚类动物生物学和生态学的更高层次的过程。

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.