Justice Keith E
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 92717, Irvine, CA, USA.
Oecologia. 1985 Sep;67(2):231-234. doi: 10.1007/BF00384290.
The cactus specialist, Neotoma albigula, tolerates high concentrations of potentially harmful oxalate compounds in its diet. Previous research has shown that oxalate compounds are broken down by intestinal micro-organisms. Thus the ability of N. albigula to utilize a diet high in oxalates may be a consequence of the adaptation of the microflora rather than its own evolution. To test this hypothesis, the oxalate degradation ability of N. albigula was compared with that of N. mexicana, a generalist herbivore. Apparent oxalate digestibility was not significantly different in the two species, when tested using field-acclimated individuals. Analysis of scats recovered from traps indicated that both species were consuming oxalates in the wild. I conclude that the ability of these herbivores to tolerate oxalates is a natural consequence of the utilization of microbial fermentation to degrade the structural carbohydrates of plants coupled with the high adaptive and evolutionary potential of the microflora.
仙人掌专家白喉林鼠在其饮食中能够耐受高浓度的潜在有害草酸盐化合物。先前的研究表明，草酸盐化合物会被肠道微生物分解。因此，白喉林鼠利用高草酸盐饮食的能力可能是微生物群落适应的结果，而非其自身进化的结果。为了验证这一假设，将白喉林鼠的草酸盐降解能力与普通草食动物墨西哥林鼠的进行了比较。当使用适应野外环境的个体进行测试时，两个物种的表观草酸盐消化率没有显著差异。对从陷阱中回收的粪便进行分析表明，两个物种在野外都食用草酸盐。我得出结论，这些食草动物耐受草酸盐的能力是利用微生物发酵来降解植物结构碳水化合物以及微生物群落具有高适应和进化潜力的自然结果。
