The uneven weight distribution between predators and prey: Comparing gut fill between terrestrial herbivores and carnivores

Publication date: Available online 22 February 2020Source: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative PhysiologyAuthor(s): Annelies De Cuyper, Carlo Meloro, Andrew J. Abraham, Dennis W.H. Müller, Daryl Codron, Geert P.J. Janssens, Marcus ClaussAbstractThe general observation that secondary consumers ingest highly digestible food and have simple short guts and small abdominal cavities intuitively results in the assumption that mammalian carnivores carry less digesta in their gut compared to herbivores. Due to logistic constraints, this assumption has not been tested quantitatively so far. In this contribution, we estimated the dry matter gut contents (DMC) for 25 of the order Carnivora (including two strictly herbivorous ones, the giant and the red panda) using the physical ‘Occupancy Principle’, based on a literature data collection on dry matter intake (DMI), apparent dry matter digestibility (aD DM) and retention time (RT), and compared the results to an existing collection for herbivores. Scaling exponents with body mass (BM) for both carnivores and herbivores were in the same range with DMI ~ BM0.75; aD DM ~ BM0; RT ~ BM0.11 and DMC ~ BM0.88. The trophic level (carnivore vs herbivore) significantly affected all digestive physiology parameters except for RT. Numerically, the carnivore DMI level reached 77%, the RT 32% and DMC only 29% of the corresponding herbivore values, whereas the herbivore aD DM only reached 82% of that of carnivores....
Source: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research