Ecological significance of hypometabolism in nonhuman primates

Allometry, adaptation, and deviant diets

Bibliographic Data

ID8319830
AuthorsJeffrey A Kurland (Pennsylvania State University), Jay D Pearson (Pennsylvania State University)
Year1986
Volume71
Issue4
Pages445-457
Publication date1986-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330710408
PMID3812660
OpenAlexW2055362387
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited60

The “Kleiber relationship” describes the interspecific allometry between body size and metabolism. Like other allometric relationships, the Kleiber relationship not only summarizes scaling effects across species but also provides a standard by which species can be compared. One well‐noted deviation from the Kleiber relationship is “hypometabolism”: metabolic rates below that expected for a given size. It has been suggested in the literature that hypometabolism may be 1) a primitive mammalian trait, 2) a thermoregulatory adaptation, 3) an adaptation to arboreal folivory, or 4) an adaptation to a diet that is deviant for body size. Data on primate physiology and behavior are used to evaluate these hypotheses. Only the deviant‐diet hypothesis is supported by the data on nonhuman primates. Indeed, the Jarman‐Bell relationship, which is the basis for this hypothesis, provides a more coherent explanation of correlated features of animal physiology and behavior than do the alternative models. Hypometabolism may be an energy‐conserving adaptation to a variety of nutritional stresses. The present analysis underscores the point that metabolic rate, like foraging behavior, should be thought of as evolutionarily labile

Adaptation (eye) · Allometry · Arboreal locomotion · Biology · Evolutionary biology · Foraging · Interspecific competition · Metabolic rate · Primate · Trait · Zoology · Animal Behavior and Reproduction · Bat Biology and Ecology Studies · Ecology · Neuroscience · Primate Behavior and Ecology