The Role of Feeding Specialization on Post-Prandial Metabolic Rate in Snakes of the Genus Bothrops

Abstract

Feeding specialization is a recurrent issue in the evolution of snakes and is sometimes associated to morphological and/or behavioral adaptations that improve snake performance to exploit a particular food type. Despite its importance for animal fitness, the role of physiological traits has been much less studied than morphological and behavioral traits in the evolution of feeding specialization in snakes. In this context, the energetic cost of post-prandial period is an important physiological factor due to the remarkable effect on the snake energy budget. We collected data on post-prandial metabolic rate (SDA) in five species of pit vipers from the genus Bothrops with different degrees of mammal feeding specialization to test the hypothesis that feeding specialist species have lower energy costs during the digestion of their regular food item when compared to species with a more generalist diet. Our results support this hypothesis and suggest that ontogenetic changes in diet can be accompanied by changes in energy cost of the digestion process.

How sexual differences affect locomotor performance and metabolism of the Sword Snake: An integrated view from energetics

“…Measurements followed 24 hours of fasting (Stuginski et al. , 2018a,b) and after ecdysis (King & Turmo, 1997; Gibson et al ., 1989). We pumped atmospheric air into the respirometer at 300 mL/min and measured oxygen consumption rates for a minimum time of 30 min, using a FOXBOX system (Sable Systems Inc., North Las Vegas, USA).…”

Do prolonged fasting periods influence the postprandial metabolic responses in turtles? What can Trachemys scripta elegans teach us about this?

“…Regarding the investigation of the postprandial period, ambush‐hunting snakes are one of the most commonly studied group of ectotherms, due to the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on their remarkable metabolic rate increase during these periods (Andrade et al, 2005; Benedict, 1932; Enok et al, 2016; Greene, 1992, 1997; Secor, 2009; Secor & Diamond, 2000; Stuginski, Navas, Barros, Grego, et al, 2018). Several studies with this particular group of snakes have shown that the larger the prey consumed, the greater the maximum aerobic metabolic rate after meal intake, and the longer the duration of the postprandial metabolic increase (Gavira & Andrade, 2013a; Ott & Secor, 2006; Secor & Diamond, 1997).…”

Energy expenses on prey processing are comparable, but paid at a higher metabolic scope and for a longer time in ambush vs active predators: a multispecies study on snakes

“…Relatively short fasting periods due to frequent feeding and greater movement intensity in active than in ambush predators are proposed to result in continuously maintained high tissue activity and physiological readiness (Secor and Diamond 2000). This should elevate the costs of self-maintenance-expressed as the standard metabolic rate (SMR)-in active rather than ambush predators, a pattern indeed initially shown in a limited number of species (Secor and Diamond 2000), but recently confirmed by large multispecies datasets within a phylogenetic framework (Stuginski et al 2018a;Dupoué et al 2017). Physiological quiescence as expressed by a lower SMR in ambush predators during extended fasting thus appears to be a beneficial energy-saving strategy.…”

“…Food resources are necessary for growth (Bury 2021;Dunham 1978), maintenance (Møller et al 1998;Speakman and McQueenie 1996) and reproduction (Warner et al 2008;Lindström et al 2005), so maximized resource intake might seem most profitable for fitness. However, a high resource intake requires greater foraging activity (Secor and Nagy 1994;Werner and Anholt 1993), which is associated with extended exposure to predators (Webb et al 2003;Werner and Anholt 1993) and elevated costs of self-maintenance owing to prolonged periods of high metabolic activity in tissues (Stuginski et al 2018a;Secor and Diamond 2000). This indicates that the acquisition of food resources is subject to an evolutionary trade-off whereby the benefits of frequent feeding associated with large amounts of food consumed can be offset by higher predation and energy expenditure and vice-versa: the benefits of less risky and less energyconsuming, infrequent feeding are balanced by the cost of smaller amounts of ingested food (Abrams 1991(Abrams , 1982.…”

“…SDA has been measured in many species of snakes representing various phylogenetic lineages, but most reports have focused only on a single species; a higher number of species has only rarely been investigated simultaneously (e.g. Stuginski et al 2018b;Secor and Diamond 2000;Bedford 1996). Hence, this is the first study to apply a phylogenetically informed comparative framework to a large multispecies dataset that collates all the available data.…”