BIOL 1070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Adipocyte, Aptenodytes, White Adipose Tissue
27 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
This unit, we will explore metabolism and body size as well as how and why some endotherms hibernate while others remain active during the harsh arctic winter. Exchange with the environment and the amount of material that must be exchanged are both strongly influenced by body size and surface area. For example, the larger the animal, the greater its absolute requirements are for gases and nutrients. An elephant needs more food and oxygen each day than a mouse does. Thus, absolute requirements go up with body size. However, gram for gram, a mouse uses up more oxygen per unit of body mass than an elephant. Put another way, one elephant would use much less oxygen than a group of mice weighing the same total amount as the elephant. Relative (per gram or kilogram) metabolic requirements go down with body size.
