Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Experimental Physiology
Abstract
We measured the BASAL breathing frequency following an overnight fast in adult,non-pregnant/non-lactating, inactive mammals ranging in body mass from 15 to5520 kg. The data included results from 338 individual animals from 34 speciesthat were divided into terrestrial, semi-aquatic (Otariidae and Phocidae) and aquaticmammals. Following attempts to limit the collection of breathing frequency usinga basal definition and to correct the analysis phylogenetically, our results suggestthat there are differences in the allometric mass-exponent between terrestrial andaquatic/semi-aquatic mammals. An allometric regression model, whereby both bodymass and breathing frequency were transformed using log10 , suggested that theallometric mass exponent for terrestrial mammals (−0.303) was different from bothaquatic mammals (−0.124) and semi-aquatic mammals (−0.091). For semi-aquaticmammals, the breathing frequency was lower in water, but we detected no associationbetween the breathing frequency and the temperature of the medium (water or air).We propose that allometric studies of cardiorespiratory function should, if possible,adhere to the basal definition during data collection, similar to that used for metabolicrate. Such data will provide valuable information for comparative medicine of largespecies that are difficult to study, for which controlled baseline data might be difficultto obtain.
First Page
1
Last Page
9
DOI
DOI: 10.1113/EP091868
Publication Date
2-19-2025
Recommended Citation
Fahlman, Andreas; Stielstra, Elliot; Wilstermann, Ethan; Rylaarsdam, Simon; Larsson, Josefin; -Contreras, Guillermo J. Sanchez; Higa, Suguru; Marques, Gonçalo N.; Kaczmarska, Malgosia; Somarelli, Jason; and De Ruiter, Stacy L., "Phylogenetic allometric scaling of near basal breathing frequency in terrestrial, semi-aquatic and aquatic mammals" (2025). University Faculty Publications and Creative Works. 934.
https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/calvin_facultypubs/934