Abstract
We examined the effects of meal size on the postprandial metabolic response of the lancehead Bothrops alternatus (Dumeril, Bibron & Dumeril, 1894), fed mice equaling to 5, 10, 20, and 40% of the snake's body mass. The maximum O 2 consumption rates measured during digestion increased with meal size, reaching levels up to 2.8-7.8-fold higher than the metabolic rate measured during fasting. Specific Dynamic Action (SDA) duration also increased with meal size, lasting from 54 to 212 hours to complete. Under our experimental conditions, 30°C, the majority of our snakes failed to completely digest prey with a relative size of 40%. The SDA coefficient ranged from 17 to 27% of the energy content of the meal and was not affected by meal size.
Highlights
Food intake is followed by an increase in metabolic rate, commonly referred to as specific dynamic action, Specific Dynamic Action (SDA) (KLEIBER 1961), which have been documented in all major animal clades
We examined the effects of meal size on the postprandial metabolic response of the lancehead Bothrops alternatus (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1894), fed mice equaling to 5, 10, 20, and 40% of the snake’s body mass
VO2 decreased slowly over several days before returning to the metabolic levels recorded before feeding. Such a pattern was not affected by meal size and is congruent with the general response commonly reported for snakes
Summary
Food intake is followed by an increase in metabolic rate, commonly referred to as specific dynamic action, SDA (KLEIBER 1961), which have been documented in all major animal clades (see SECOR 2009). Changes in feeding behavior have been treated as key elements in the evolutionary success of this group and some studies suggest adaptive advantages associated with capture of relatively large prey (GREENE 1983) One of these advantages could be expected to involve energetic considerations since the cost of meal digestion can be quite substantial in snakes accounting for up to 33% of the caloric content of the meal (SECOR 2009), and over to 43% of the total energy budget under natural conditions (SECOR & NAGY 1994). We sought to identify whether the digestion of larger prey would impose functional constraints, specially associated to the transport of respiratory gases, since the SDA response on snakes is almost entirely aerobically supported (WANG et al 2001)
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