Beaupre S J, Zaidan F
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 72701, USA.
Physiol Biochem Zool. 2001 Sep-Oct;74(5):757-68. doi: 10.1086/322965.
To understand the bioenergetic fluxes of free-ranging timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) better, we measured CO(2) production rate of 83 snakes in response to body mass, body temperature, time of day, sex, and geographic locality (northwest Arkansas and coastal Virginia). Effects of body mass, temperature, time of day, and the temperature-by-time interaction were remarkably similar to effects reported for other rattlesnakes. We noted that C. horridus has relatively high, but precedented, Q(10) (3.71-4.78); however, the adaptive significance of this observation, if any, remains obscure. Once the confounding effect of body mass was statistically adjusted, C. horridus exhibited no sex-specific effects; however, there was a significant locality-by-time effect, which is of equivocal biological significance. In contrast to the findings of a recent review on cost of growth in neonatal reptiles, C. horridus neonates exhibited metabolic rates that were from 200% to 400% greater than expectations from the mass scaling of yearlings and older animals. We interpreted this as evidence for a cost of synthesis in growing neonates. We report regression equations for the estimation of resting CO(2) production rate in C. horridus as a function of body mass, body temperature, and time of day. Our data contribute to a growing, comparative database documenting rattlesnakes as low-energy specialists.
为了更好地了解自由放养的木纹响尾蛇（Crotalus horridus）的生物能量通量，我们测量了83条响尾蛇的二氧化碳产生率，以研究其与体重、体温、时间、性别和地理位置（阿肯色州西北部和弗吉尼亚州沿海）之间的关系。体重、温度、时间以及温度与时间的交互作用的影响与其他响尾蛇的报道结果非常相似。我们注意到，木纹响尾蛇具有相对较高但仍在先前报道范围内的Q10值（3.71 - 4.78）；然而，这一观察结果的适应性意义（如果有）仍然不明确。一旦体重的混杂效应在统计上得到调整，木纹响尾蛇没有表现出性别特异性影响；然而，存在显著的地理位置与时间的交互作用，其生物学意义尚不清楚。与最近一篇关于新生爬行动物生长成本的综述结果相反，木纹响尾蛇幼蛇的代谢率比一岁及以上动物按体重比例缩放预期值高200%至400%。我们将此解释为幼蛇生长过程中合成成本的证据。我们报告了根据体重、体温和时间来估算木纹响尾蛇静息二氧化碳产生率的回归方程。我们的数据为一个不断增长的比较数据库做出了贡献，该数据库记录了响尾蛇作为低能量专家的情况。
