Allometry of diving capacity in air-breathing vertebrates

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason F. Schreer ◽  
Kit M. Kovacs

Maximum diving depths and durations were examined in relation to body mass for birds, marine mammals, and marine turtles. There were strong allometric relationships between these parameters (log10 transformed) among air-breathing vertebrates (r = 0.71, n = 111 for depth; r = 0.84, n = 121 for duration), although there was considerable scatter around the regression lines. Many of the smaller taxonomic groups also had a strong allometric relationship between diving capacity (maximum depth and duration) and body mass. Notable exceptions were mysticete cetaceans and diving/flying birds, which displayed no relationship between maximum diving depth and body mass, and otariid seals, which showed no relationship between maximum diving depth or duration and body mass. Within the diving/flying bird group, only alcids showed a significant relationship (r = 0.81, n = 9 for depth). The diving capacities of penguins had the highest correlations with body mass (r = 0.81, n = 11 for depth; r = 0.93, n = 9 for duration), followed by those of odontocete cetaceans (r = 0.75, n = 21 for depth; r = 0.84, n = 22 for duration) and phocid seals (r = 0.70, n = 15 for depth; r = 0.59, n = 16 for duration). Mysticete cetaceans showed a strong relationship between maximum duration and body mass (r = 0.84, n = 9). Comparisons across the various groups indicated that alcids, penguins, and phocids are all exceptional divers relative to their masses and that mysticete cetaceans dive to shallower depths and for shorter periods than would be predicted from their size. Differences among groups, as well as the lack of relationships within some groups, could often be explained by factors such as the various ecological feeding niches these groups exploit, or by variations in the methods used to record their behavior.

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2531-2538 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Innes ◽  
G. A. J. Worthy ◽  
D. M. Lavigne ◽  
K. Ronald

Standard morphometries and body surface areas were determined for 56 captive phocid seals. The mean Meeh constant, describing the relationship between maximum surface area (Amax) and body mass raised to the power 2/3 (m0.67), was 0.088 ± 0.011 m2∙kg−0.67. This value was not significantly different (P < 0.05) from the mean Meeh constant for 13 species of marine mammals (0.090 ± 0.018 m2∙kg−0.67), nor was it significantly different from the Meeh constants calculated for two samples of terrestrial mammals (0.097 ± 0.019 (N = 57) and 0.10 ± 0.013 m2∙kg−0.67 (N = 21)). The empirical allometric relationship between body mass and surface area for our phocid seals was log Amax = log 0.14 + 0.51 log m (R2 = 0.84). This relationship was not significantly different from that calculated for cetaceans, but was, however, significantly different from that calculated for terrestrial mammals. On average, surface areas of marine mammals (including pinnipeds, cetaceans, and the sea otter) were 23% smaller for their mass than those of terrestrial mammals.


2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 1171-1178 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lucas ◽  
A. Schouman ◽  
L. Lyphout ◽  
X. Cousin ◽  
C. Lefrancois

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-71
Author(s):  
A.H. Clarke

The extensive remains of large sauropods, excavated in the Upper Jurassic layers of the Tendaguru region of Tanzania, East Africa by Janensch [15], include an intact fossil cast of a vestibular labyrinth and an endocast of the large Brachiosaurus brancai. The approximately 150 million year old labyrinth cast demonstrates clearly a form and organisation congruent in detail to those of extant vertebrate species. Besides the near-orthogonal arrangement of semicircular canals (SCCs), the superior and inferior branches of the vestibulo-acoustic nerve, the endolymphatic duct, the oval and round windows, and the cochlea can be identified. The orientation of the labyrinth in the temporal bone is also equivalent to that of many extant vertebrates. Furthermore, the existence of the twelve cranial nerves can be identified from the endocast. The present study was initiated after the photogrammetric measurement of the skeleton volume of B. brancai [13] yielded a realistic estimate of body mass (74.42 metric tons). Dimensional analysis shows that body mass and average SCC dimensions of B. brancai generally fit with the allometric relationship found in previous studies of extant species. However, the anterior SCC is significantly larger than the allometric relationship would predict. This would indicate greater sensitivity, supporting the idea that the behavioural repertoire must have included much slower pitch movements of the head. These slower movements would most likely have involved flexion of the neck, rather than head pitching about the atlas joint. Pursuing the relationship between body mass and SCC dimensions further, the SCC frequency response is estimated by scaling up from the SCC dimensions of the rhesus monkey; this yields a range between 0.008–26 Hz, approximately one octave lower than for humans.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-366
Author(s):  
Edcleide Oliveira dos Santos Olinto ◽  
Gina Araújo Martins Feitosa ◽  
Izaura Odir Lima Gomes da Costa ◽  
Janine Maciel Barbosa ◽  
Ericka Vilar Bôtto Targino ◽  
...  

Introduction: There is a strong relationship between malnutrition and increased length of hospitalization and morbidity and mortality. Studies have shown that malnourished patients can have up to twenty times more complications than eutrophic ones. In critically ill patients, there is a tendency to catabolism, resulting in the loss of lean body mass, which when it reaches 40% is usually lethal. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive study was conducted on adults from both genders, admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital, from March to December 2018. The following variables were collected from the evaluation and nutritional records: length of hospitalization in the ICU, date of discharge or death, nutritional risk through specific screening, height, weight and arm circumference (AC). For the screening, the Nutric score was used. For the nutritional evaluation, the body mass index (BMI) and AC indicators and the classifications recommended by the World Health Organization (2004) and Blackburn and Thornton (1979) were used. After collecting the data, they were analyzed in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 13.0 and for the association of the variables the Chi-square test was used, considering statistical difference when the p value <0.05. Results: The sample consisted of 116 patients, mostly female (53.4%) whose median age was 46 years (interquartile range IQR 31-53). Regarding the frequency of nutritional risk, most patients (61.5%) had a low score. There was an important frequency of malnutrition, according to the AC indicator (73%), although BMI (43.5%) showed eutrophy. Even though most patients had low nutritional risk, those with high nutritional risk (38.5%) had a higher tendency to mortality, however, not statistically confirmed (p> 0.05). There was also a tendency of association between death and malnutrition, although no statistical significance was shown(p> 0.05). Conclusion: Patients at nutritional risk and/or malnutrition appear to be vulnerable to worse clinical outcomes.


1990 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 349-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Geiser ◽  
R. V. Baudinette

1. Rewarming rate from torpor and body mass were inversely related in 86 mammals ranging in body mass between 2 and 8500 g. 2. Most of the mammalian taxa investigated showed a similar change of rewarming rate with body mass. Only the insectivores showed a more pronounced increase in rewarming with a decrease in body mass than did the other taxa. The rates of rewarming of marsupials were similar to those of placentals. 3. At low air temperature (Ta), the rate of rewarming of marsupials was not related to body mass, although a strong relationship between the two variables was observed in the same species at high Ta. 4. The slopes relating rewarming rates and body mass of the mammalian groups and taxa analysed here were similar to those obtained earlier for mass-specific basal metabolic rate (BMR) and body mass in mammals, suggesting that the rate of rewarming and BMR are physiologically linked.


1992 ◽  
Vol 263 (3) ◽  
pp. R602-R608
Author(s):  
W. W. Burggren ◽  
J. E. Bicudo ◽  
M. L. Glass ◽  
A. S. Abe

Systemic arterial blood pressure and heart rate (fH) were measured in unanesthetized, unrestrained larvae and adults of the paradoxical frog, Pseudis paradoxus from Sao Paulo State in Brazil. Four developmental groups were used, representing the complete transition from aquatic larvae to primarily air-breathing adults. fH (49-66 beats/min) was not significantly affected by development, whereas mean arterial blood pressure was strongly affected, being lowest in the stage 37-39 larvae (10 mmHg), intermediate in the stage 44-45 larvae (18 mmHg), and highest in the juveniles and adults (31 and 30 mmHg, respectively). Blood pressure was not significantly correlated with body mass, which was greatest in the youngest larvae and smallest in the juveniles. In the youngest larvae studied (stages 37-39), lung ventilation was infrequent, causing a slight decrease in arterial blood pressure but no change in heart rate. Lung ventilation was more frequent in stages 44-45 larvae and nearly continuous in juveniles and adults floating at the surface. Bradycardia during both forced and voluntary diving was observed in almost every advanced larva, juvenile, and adult but in only one of four young larvae. Developmentally related changes in blood pressure were not complete until metamorphosis, whereas diving bradycardia was present at an earlier stage.


2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1797) ◽  
pp. 20142103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlee A. Tucker ◽  
Tracey L. Rogers

Predator–prey relationships and trophic levels are indicators of community structure, and are important for monitoring ecosystem changes. Mammals colonized the marine environment on seven separate occasions, which resulted in differences in species' physiology, morphology and behaviour. It is likely that these changes have had a major effect upon predator–prey relationships and trophic position; however, the effect of environment is yet to be clarified. We compiled a dataset, based on the literature, to explore the relationship between body mass, trophic level and predator–prey ratio across terrestrial ( n = 51) and marine ( n = 56) mammals. We did not find the expected positive relationship between trophic level and body mass, but we did find that marine carnivores sit 1.3 trophic levels higher than terrestrial carnivores. Also, marine mammals are largely carnivorous and have significantly larger predator–prey ratios compared with their terrestrial counterparts. We propose that primary productivity, and its availability, is important for mammalian trophic structure and body size. Also, energy flow and community structure in the marine environment are influenced by differences in energy efficiency and increased food web stability. Enhancing our knowledge of feeding ecology in mammals has the potential to provide insights into the structure and functioning of marine and terrestrial communities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amador García-Ramos ◽  
Alejandro Torrejón ◽  
Belén Feriche ◽  
Antonio J. Morales-Artacho ◽  
Alejandro Pérez-Castilla ◽  
...  

Purpose: To provide 2 general equations to estimate the maximum possible number of repetitions (XRM) from the mean velocity (MV) of the barbell and the MV associated with a given number of repetitions in reserve, as well as to determine the between-sessions reliability of the MV associated with each XRM. Methods: After determination of the bench-press 1-repetition maximum (1RM; 1.15 ± 0.21 kg/kg body mass), 21 men (age 23.0 ± 2.7 y, body mass 72.7 ± 8.3 kg, body height 1.77 ± 0.07 m) completed 4 sets of as many repetitions as possible against relative loads of 60%1RM, 70%1RM, 80%1RM, and 90%1RM over 2 separate sessions. The different loads were tested in a randomized order with 10 min of rest between them. All repetitions were performed at the maximum intended velocity. Results: Both the general equation to predict the XRM from the fastest MV of the set (CV = 15.8–18.5%) and the general equation to predict MV associated with a given number of repetitions in reserve (CV = 14.6–28.8%) failed to provide data with acceptable between-subjects variability. However, a strong relationship (median r2 = .984) and acceptable reliability (CV < 10% and ICC > .85) were observed between the fastest MV of the set and the XRM when considering individual data. Conclusions: These results indicate that generalized group equations are not acceptable methods for estimating the XRM–MV relationship or the number of repetitions in reserve. When attempting to estimate the XRM–MV relationship, one must use individualized relationships to objectively estimate the exact number of repetitions that can be performed in a training set.


2008 ◽  
Vol 276 (1658) ◽  
pp. 887-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix G Marx

The validity of biological explanations of patterns of palaeodiversity has been called into question owing to an apparent correlation of diversity with the amount of sedimentary rock preserved. However, this claim has largely been based on comprehensive estimates of global marine Phanerozoic diversity, thus raising the question of whether a similar bias applies to the records of smaller, well-defined taxonomic groups. Here, new data on European Caenozoic marine sedimentary rock outcrop area are presented and compared with European occurrences of three groups of marine mammals (cetaceans, pinnipedimorphs and sirenians). Limited evidence was found for a correlation of outcrop area with marine mammal palaeodiversity. In addition, similar patterns were identified in the cetacean and pinnipedimorph diversity data. This may point to the preservation of a genuine biological signal not overwhelmed by geological biases in the marine mammal diversity data, and opens the door to further analyses of both marine mammal evolution and geological bias in other small and well-defined groups of taxa.


1988 ◽  
Vol 255 (5) ◽  
pp. R760-R767 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Beuchat ◽  
E. J. Braun

In reptiles, there are two pairs of kidneys at birth: the mesonephros and the metanephros. The metanephric kidney in reptiles, as in all amniote vertebrates, is retained as the functional kidney in adults. However, the reptilian mesonephros does not degenerate until after birth, and its function during this time is unknown. In neonates of the iguanid lizard Sceloporus jarrovi, the metanephric kidney is only 63% as large as predicted from the allometric relationship between kidney mass and body mass in adults. However, the kidney mass of neonatal lizards conforms to this prediction if the mesonephric and metanephric masses are combined. Some other amniote vertebrates appear to follow this pattern as well: in marsupials, which retain the mesonephros for a short period after birth, the sum of mesonephric and metanephric mass in neonates conforms to the allometry of kidney mass on body mass for adults. In contrast, the mesonephros of eutherian mammals is degenerate at birth and the metanephric kidney alone is of the predicted size. That the scaling of kidney mass in neonatal lizards and marsupials is the same as that of adults only if the mass of both the mesonephros and metanephros are combined suggests that the mesonephric kidney in these vertebrates plays a significant role in the regulation of water and ion balance during development and for at least a short time after birth.


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