Lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds
Several alternative explanations have been proposed to account for the evolution of nestling obesity in a variety of avian groups. These predict quite different patterns of fat accumulation, storage and use by chicks of different ages. Yet surprisingly few studies have measured changes in body compo...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:1690066 2023-05-15T16:18:33+02:00 Lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds Phillips, R. A. Hamer, K. C. 1999-07-07 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690066 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0783 en eng http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690066 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0783 Article Text 1999 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0783 2013-08-31T12:31:18Z Several alternative explanations have been proposed to account for the evolution of nestling obesity in a variety of avian groups. These predict quite different patterns of fat accumulation, storage and use by chicks of different ages. Yet surprisingly few studies have measured changes in body composition during chick development. We tested the applicability of these hypotheses for fulmars, Fulmarus glacialis, by direct measurement of changes in water, lipid and lean dry mass in growing chicks. Lipid and lean dry mass increased until ca. 70% of the way through chick rearing, but then levelled off. Total body water also increased until the same stage, but gradually declined thereafter, and it was this change rather than fat metabolism that resulted in mass recession. The observed pattern of a continued increase in stored lipid, and most importantly, its maintenance all the way through the mass-recession phase until chicks reach fledging, is incompatible with many of the proposed hypotheses. We suggest that the most likely ultimate explanation for large fat deposits is to fuel chicks during the initial critical period away from the nest site while they learn to forage Text Fulmarus glacialis PubMed Central (PMC) Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 266 1426 1329 1334 |
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Article Phillips, R. A. Hamer, K. C. Lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds |
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Article |
description |
Several alternative explanations have been proposed to account for the evolution of nestling obesity in a variety of avian groups. These predict quite different patterns of fat accumulation, storage and use by chicks of different ages. Yet surprisingly few studies have measured changes in body composition during chick development. We tested the applicability of these hypotheses for fulmars, Fulmarus glacialis, by direct measurement of changes in water, lipid and lean dry mass in growing chicks. Lipid and lean dry mass increased until ca. 70% of the way through chick rearing, but then levelled off. Total body water also increased until the same stage, but gradually declined thereafter, and it was this change rather than fat metabolism that resulted in mass recession. The observed pattern of a continued increase in stored lipid, and most importantly, its maintenance all the way through the mass-recession phase until chicks reach fledging, is incompatible with many of the proposed hypotheses. We suggest that the most likely ultimate explanation for large fat deposits is to fuel chicks during the initial critical period away from the nest site while they learn to forage |
format |
Text |
author |
Phillips, R. A. Hamer, K. C. |
author_facet |
Phillips, R. A. Hamer, K. C. |
author_sort |
Phillips, R. A. |
title |
Lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds |
title_short |
Lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds |
title_full |
Lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds |
title_fullStr |
Lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds |
title_sort |
lipid reserves, fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690066 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0783 |
genre |
Fulmarus glacialis |
genre_facet |
Fulmarus glacialis |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690066 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0783 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0783 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
266 |
container_issue |
1426 |
container_start_page |
1329 |
op_container_end_page |
1334 |
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1766004744288993280 |