Meeting Abstract
Resting metabolic rate usually scales with body mass to between the 0.67 and 1.0 power when assessing the relationship with a power function (R = aMb). For many animals, this relationship tends to not be significantly different from ¾. It has been suggested that when b is closer to 0.67, maintenance costs are higher and b is more limited by the movement of resources across body surfaces. When b is closer to 1.0, maintenance costs are lower and energetic demands of tissues drive the scaling relationship. Moreover, b has been shown to be negatively correlated with the metabolic coefficient or level (L) for resting metabolic rates in a variety of animals. However, data on limbless animals is somewhat scarce. Here, we examined the allometric scaling of resting metabolic rate in cornsnakes (Pantherophis guttatus) (N = 27) to compare the relationships with other species and assess the influence of activity level on both b and L. Combining our data with that collected on other snake species, we examined the hypothesis that b and L are inversely related in snakes, as has been shown in other animals. Conversely, we found that b and L were positively correlated in snakes and that snakes exhibiting more active lifestyles possess lower b and L. It is unclear why snakes differ from other animals. We hypothesize that snake body shape (mass relative to length) or the high-energy requirement needed to digest larger meals could be contributing factors to this puzzling relationship.
