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Basal Rate of Metabolism, Body Size, and Food Habits in the Order Carnivora

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Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution

Abstract

Organisms expend energy for a variety of tasks, including body maintenance, movement, resource acquisition, courtship, reproduction, and growth. Energy expenditure is greatest in species that have high costs of maintenance (e.g., endotherms), high activity levels (due either to extended periods of activity or to the use of expensive forms of locomotion, such as flight and elaborate courtship rituals), expensive means or extended periods of resource acquisition, high rates of reproduction, high postnatal growth rates, and extended periods of parental care.

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Authors
  1. Brian K. McNab
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Graduate Programs in Ecology and Ethology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

    John L. Gittleman

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© 1989 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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McNab, B.K. (1989). Basal Rate of Metabolism, Body Size, and Food Habits in the Order Carnivora. In: Gittleman, J.L. (eds) Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4716-4_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4716-4_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-34360-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4716-4

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