Journal
BIOLOGY LETTERS
Volume 3, Issue 1, Pages 99-102Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0576
Keywords
metabolic rate; allometry; metabolic theory
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Debate on the mechanism(s) responsible for the scaling of metabolic rate with body size in mammals has focused on why the maximum metabolic rate (V-O2max) appears to scale more steeply with body size than the basal metabolic rate (BMR). Consequently, metabolic scope, defined as V-O2max/BMR, systematically increases with body size. These observations have led some to suggest that V-O2max and BMR are controlled by fundamentally different processes, and to discount the generality of models that predict a single power-law scaling exponent for the size dependence of the metabolic rate. We present a model that predicts a steeper size dependence for V-O2max than BMR based on the observation that changes in muscle temperature from rest to maximal activity are greater in larger mammals. Empirical data support the model's prediction. This model thus provides a potential theoretical and mechanistic link between BMR and V-O2max.
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