allometry

Small ruminants: digestive capacity differences among four species weighing less than 20 Kg

Small ruminants are generally classified as either browsers or frugivores. We compared intake and digestion in one browsing species, the pudu (Pudu pudu), body weight 9 kg, and three frugivorous species, the red brocket (Mazama americana), 20kg, the bay duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis), 12kg, and Maxwell’s duiker (C. maxwellii), 9 kg. Rations comprised: a commercial grain and alfalfa pellet, a small...

Allometry and Ecology of Feeding Behaviour and Digestive Capacity in Herbivores

Allometry and Ecology of Feeding Behaviour and Digestive Capacity in Herbivores Peter J. Van Soest Cornell University, Ithaca, New York Ruminants are animals that have specialized on the capture of energy in cellulosic carbohydrates in contrast to perissodactyls that tend to consume volume with lower extraction. Thus equids, for example, are more tolerant to low quality forages than many ruminants...