Energy constraints on carnivore diet

Brian K. McNab ()
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Brian K. McNab: University of Florida

Nature, 2000, vol. 407, issue 6804, 584-584

Abstract: Abstract The energy expenditure of mammals reflects their habits and environments1, subject to limitations associated with body size. Carbone et al.2 combined scaling relationships to argue that large species of the mammalian order Carnivora (weighing more than 21.5 kg) do not specialize on invertebrate prey. However, many tropical mammals that feed exclusively on ants and termites are much heavier than this, often weighing up to 60–70 kg; they survive by progressively reducing their metabolic rate to below that expected from their body size. I believe that this response indicates that it is not body size that limits the determination of diet, but rather the maximal rate of energy expenditure.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1038/35036695

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