info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Digestive adaptations to aerial lifestyles
Fecha
2015-01Registro en:
Price, Edwin; Brun, Antonio; Caviedes Vidal, Enrique Juan Raul; Karasow, William H.; Digestive adaptations to aerial lifestyles; American Physiological Society; Physiology; 30; 1; 1-2015; 69-78
1548-9213
Autor
Price, Edwin
Brun, Antonio
Caviedes Vidal, Enrique Juan Raul
Karasow, William H.
Resumen
Flying vertebrates (birds and bats) are under selective pressure to reduce the size of the gut and the mass of the digesta it carries. Compared to similar sized non-flying mammals, birds and bats have smaller intestines and shorter retention times. We review evidence that birds and bats have lower spare digestive capacity and partially compensate for smaller intestines with increased paracellular nutrient absorption.