Longer Life Span Tied to Energy Use in Primates zz# Animals - 动物园
h*h
1 楼
Most mammals reach adulthood within months and die in their teens or 20s.
Not so with humans and other primates, which take years to become adults,
then live for decades and reproduce infrequently.
Now researchers are reporting that a reason for the disparity may lie in
metabolic rates. According to a new study in Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, primates burn about half as many calories per day as
mammals of comparable size — and not simply because the other mammals are
more active.
Humans would have to run a marathon a day to expend as much energy as a
similar-size deer, said Dr. Herman Pontzer, an anthropologist at Hunter
College and lead author of the study.
“Probably there are other mechanisms that are helping primates take care of
our bodies and repair damage,” he said. “But if you view aging as this
process of accumulating metabolic damage, this seems to account for about
all the difference in life span.”
Continue reading the main story
Related Coverage
More Observatory Columns
To capture the metabolic rates of chimpanzees, bonobos and other primates,
Dr. Pontzer and his team used the “doubly labeled water” technique, in
which hydrogen and oxygen in water are replaced with isotopes that help
trace the body’s production of carbon dioxide.
The study also found that primates in zoos expended as much energy per day
as animals in the wild, suggesting that physical activity may be less
critical to burning calories than currently believed, Dr. Pontzer said.
Not so with humans and other primates, which take years to become adults,
then live for decades and reproduce infrequently.
Now researchers are reporting that a reason for the disparity may lie in
metabolic rates. According to a new study in Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, primates burn about half as many calories per day as
mammals of comparable size — and not simply because the other mammals are
more active.
Humans would have to run a marathon a day to expend as much energy as a
similar-size deer, said Dr. Herman Pontzer, an anthropologist at Hunter
College and lead author of the study.
“Probably there are other mechanisms that are helping primates take care of
our bodies and repair damage,” he said. “But if you view aging as this
process of accumulating metabolic damage, this seems to account for about
all the difference in life span.”
Continue reading the main story
Related Coverage
More Observatory Columns
To capture the metabolic rates of chimpanzees, bonobos and other primates,
Dr. Pontzer and his team used the “doubly labeled water” technique, in
which hydrogen and oxygen in water are replaced with isotopes that help
trace the body’s production of carbon dioxide.
The study also found that primates in zoos expended as much energy per day
as animals in the wild, suggesting that physical activity may be less
critical to burning calories than currently believed, Dr. Pontzer said.
