The carotid rete and artiodactyl success
Since the Eocene, the diversity of artiodactyls has increased while that of perissodactyls has decreased. Reasons given for this contrasting pattern are that the evolution of a ruminant digestive tract and improved locomotion in artiodactyls were adaptively advantageous in the highly seasonal post-E...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:2610139 2023-05-15T15:03:59+02:00 The carotid rete and artiodactyl success Mitchell, G Lust, A 2008-04-17 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610139 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18426746 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0138 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610139 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18426746 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0138 © 2008 The Royal Society Research Article Text 2008 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0138 2013-09-02T09:10:09Z Since the Eocene, the diversity of artiodactyls has increased while that of perissodactyls has decreased. Reasons given for this contrasting pattern are that the evolution of a ruminant digestive tract and improved locomotion in artiodactyls were adaptively advantageous in the highly seasonal post-Eocene climate. We suggest that evolution of a carotid rete, a structure highly developed in artiodactyls but absent in perissodactyls, was at least as important. The rete confers an ability to regulate brain temperature independently of body temperature. The net effect is that in hot ambient conditions artiodactyls are able to conserve energy and water, and in cold ambient conditions they are able to conserve body temperature. In perissodactyls, brain and body temperature change in parallel and thermoregulation requires abundant food and water to warm/cool the body. Consequently, perissodactyls occupy habitats of low seasonality and rich in food and water, such as tropical forests. Conversely, the increased thermoregulatory flexibility of artiodactyls has facilitated invasion of new adaptive zones ranging from the Arctic Circle to deserts and tropical savannahs. Text Arctic PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Biology Letters 4 4 415 418 |
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Research Article Mitchell, G Lust, A The carotid rete and artiodactyl success |
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Since the Eocene, the diversity of artiodactyls has increased while that of perissodactyls has decreased. Reasons given for this contrasting pattern are that the evolution of a ruminant digestive tract and improved locomotion in artiodactyls were adaptively advantageous in the highly seasonal post-Eocene climate. We suggest that evolution of a carotid rete, a structure highly developed in artiodactyls but absent in perissodactyls, was at least as important. The rete confers an ability to regulate brain temperature independently of body temperature. The net effect is that in hot ambient conditions artiodactyls are able to conserve energy and water, and in cold ambient conditions they are able to conserve body temperature. In perissodactyls, brain and body temperature change in parallel and thermoregulation requires abundant food and water to warm/cool the body. Consequently, perissodactyls occupy habitats of low seasonality and rich in food and water, such as tropical forests. Conversely, the increased thermoregulatory flexibility of artiodactyls has facilitated invasion of new adaptive zones ranging from the Arctic Circle to deserts and tropical savannahs. |
format |
Text |
author |
Mitchell, G Lust, A |
author_facet |
Mitchell, G Lust, A |
author_sort |
Mitchell, G |
title |
The carotid rete and artiodactyl success |
title_short |
The carotid rete and artiodactyl success |
title_full |
The carotid rete and artiodactyl success |
title_fullStr |
The carotid rete and artiodactyl success |
title_full_unstemmed |
The carotid rete and artiodactyl success |
title_sort |
carotid rete and artiodactyl success |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610139 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18426746 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0138 |
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Arctic |
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Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
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Arctic |
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610139 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18426746 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0138 |
op_rights |
© 2008 The Royal Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0138 |
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Biology Letters |
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4 |
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4 |
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415 |
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418 |
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1766335825467932672 |