Allers D, Culik B M
Abteilung Meereszoologie, Institut für Meereskunde, Universität Kiel, Germany.
Physiol Zool. 1997 Jul-Aug;70(4):456-63. doi: 10.1086/515852.
Energy requirements of beavers (Castor canadensis) swimming voluntarily underwater were investigated in Neumünster Zoo (Germany) in a covered, still-water swim channel with oxygen and carbon dioxide respirometry. During the experiments, all activities of the beavers were monitored and recorded. While at rest within their thermoneutral zone on land (17 degrees C), beavers had a respiratory quotient of 0.95 and a resting metabolic rate of 1.58 W kg-1. When resting in water, energy requirements rose to 2.31 W kg-1. When swimming underwater in the channel, beavers preferred a mean speed of 0.64 m s-1, and their energy requirements rose to 2.64 W kg-1. Cost of transport, however, was minimal at 0.9 m s-1 and amounted to 0.36 J N-1 m-1. Although beavers must compromise form and function to operate on water and on land, their energy requirements while diving amount to only 1.65 times the resting metabolic rate and compare well with those of accomplished swimmers such as aquatic mammals and birds.
在德国新明斯特动物园的一个有盖静水游泳通道中，利用氧气和二氧化碳呼吸测定法，对河狸（加拿大河狸）在水下自主游泳时的能量需求进行了研究。在实验过程中，对河狸的所有活动进行了监测和记录。当河狸在陆地上处于热中性区（17摄氏度）休息时，其呼吸商为0.95，静息代谢率为1.58瓦/千克。当在水中休息时，能量需求上升到2.31瓦/千克。当在通道中水下游泳时，河狸偏好的平均速度为0.64米/秒，其能量需求上升到2.64瓦/千克。然而，运输成本在速度为0.9米/秒时最低，为0.36焦/牛顿·米。尽管河狸必须在水上和陆地上活动时在形态和功能上做出妥协，但其潜水时的能量需求仅为静息代谢率的1.65倍，与水生哺乳动物和鸟类等熟练游泳者相比情况良好。
