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A vertebrate model of extreme physiological regulation

Nature volume 395, pages 659–662 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Investigation of vertebrate regulatory biology is restricted by the modest response amplitudes in mammalian model species that derive from a lifestyle of frequent small meals. By contrast, ambush-hunting snakes eat huge meals after long intervals. In juvenile pythons during feeding, there are large and rapid increases in metabolism and secretion, in the activation of enzymes and transporter proteins, and in tissue growth. These responses enable an economic hypothesis concerning the evolution of regulation to be tested. Combined with other experimental advantages, these features recommend juvenile pythons as the equivalent of a squid axon in vertebrate regulatory biology.

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Figure 1: Oxygen consumption rates (left ordinate: V ˙ O 2 in units of ml g−1 h−1) of juvenile Burmese pythons before and after consuming rodent meals equivalent to 5, 35, 65 and 100% of the snake's body mass.
Figure 2: Wet mass of small intestine of pythons as a function of time after consuming rodent meals equivalent to 25% of snake body mass.
Figure 3: Percentage increase (as percentage of fasted mass) in the wet mass of python organs at 1 or 3 d after consuming rodent meals equivalent to 25 or 65% of snake body mass.
Figure 4: Factorial increases (relative to values for fasting individuals of the same species) of five parameters in four frequently feeding (left) and four infrequently feeding (right) snake species.
Figure 5: Time-averaged daily partial energy budgets as a function of interval between meals, calculated for two snake species that differ in physiology and in feeding ecology.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the NIH. We gratefully acknowledge our many collaborators named in our previous publications.

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  1. Department of Physiology, University of California Medical School, Los Angeles, 90095-1751, California, USA

    Stephen M. Secor & Jared Diamond

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  1. Stephen M. Secor
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Correspondence to Stephen M. Secor.

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Secor, S., Diamond, J. A vertebrate model of extreme physiological regulation. Nature 395, 659–662 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/27131

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