Cent Of Total Weight Research Articles

Measures, Weights, and Lipid Levels in Migrating Dunlins Calidris a. alpina L. at the Ottenby Bird Observatory, South Sweden

Measurements, weights, and lipid levels of 85 Dunlins collected during two autumn seasons at the Ottenby Bird Observatory in South Sweden were analyzed. Males had significantly shorter wings and bills, and lower body weights than females. Fat depots ranged from about 5 to 30 per cent of total weight and accounted for the major variations in body weight. No correlation was found between body size and lipid level. The water content expressed as a percentage of fat-free weight was virtually constant within each year sample, irrespective of body size and lipid level. Significant differences in fat-free dry weights and water content between the two year samples were found. A formula for calculation of fat stores from total weight and wing length is presented. The results are compared to other work on waders and passerines.

The influence of fat deposits on the basal rate of metabolism in desert homoiotherms

1. 1. The low basal rates of metabolism found in the canyon mouse, Peromyscus crinitus, and the naked mole-rat, Heterocephalus glaber, are not due to the accumulation of large amounts of depot fat, but can be interpreted as adaptations to their respective environments. 2. 2. Present information suggests that moderate amounts of fat (maximally about 20 per cent of total weight) are within “standard” conditions. 3. 3. Desert homoiotherms tend to store fat for use during the hot, dry summers at a time when the food intake is reduced because of a reduced water intake.

PHYSIOLOGICAL ONTOGENY

PHYSIOLOGICAL ONTOGENY