Mammalian intestinal allometry, phylogeny, trophic level and climate.

ABSTRACT: An often-stated ecomorphological assumption that has the status of 'textbook knowledge' is that the dimensions of the digestive tract correlate with diet, where herbivores-consuming diets of lower digestibility-have longer intestinal tracts than faunivores-consuming diets of higher digestibility. However, statistical approaches have so far failed to demonstrate this link. Here, we collated data on the length of intestinal sections and body mass of 519 mammal species, and test for various relationships with trophic, climatic and other biological characteristics. All models showed a strong phylogenetic signal. Scaling relationships with body mass showed positive allometry at exponents greater than 0.33, except for the caecum, which is particularly large in smaller species. Body mass was more

SUBMITTER: Duque-Correa MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7893215 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature