Suarez R K
Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada.
Experientia. 1992 Jun 15;48(6):565-70. doi: 10.1007/BF01920240.
Resting and maximal mass-specific metabolic rates scale inversely with body mass. Small hummingbirds achieve the highest known mass-specific metabolic rates among vertebrate homeotherms. Maximal capacities for O2 and substrate delivery to muscle mitochondria, as well as mitochondrial oxidative capacities in these animals may be at the upper limits of what are structurally and functionally possible given the constraints inherent in vertebrate design. Such constraints on the evolutionary design of functional capacities may play an important role in determining the lower limits to vertebrate homeotherm size and the upper limits to mass-specific metabolic rate.
静息和最大质量特异性代谢率与体重呈反比。小型蜂鸟在脊椎动物恒温动物中具有已知最高的质量特异性代谢率。这些动物向肌肉线粒体输送氧气和底物的最大能力，以及线粒体氧化能力，可能处于脊椎动物结构和功能所允许的上限，这是脊椎动物设计中固有的限制因素。这种对功能能力进化设计的限制，可能在决定脊椎动物恒温动物体型的下限和质量特异性代谢率的上限方面发挥重要作用。
