title: The linear alometric relationship between total metabolic energy per life span and body mass of poikilothermic animals.
abstract: A linear relationship exists between total metabolic energy per life span PT(ls) (kJ) and body mass M (kg) of 54 poikilothermic species (Protozoa, Nematoda, Mollusca, Asteroidae, Insecta, Arachnoidae, Crustacea, Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia and Snakes): PT(ls) = A(ls*)M(1.0838), where P (kJ/day) is the rate of metabolism and T(ls) (days) is the life span of animals. The linear coefficient A(ls*) = 3.7 x 10(5) kJ/kg is the total metabolic energy, exhausted during the life span per 1 kg body mass of animals. This linear coefficient can be regarded as relatively constant metabolic parameter for poikilothermic organisms, ranging from 0.1 x 10(5) to 5.5 x 10(5) kJ/kg, in spite of 17-degree differences between metabolic rate and body mass of animals. A linear relationship between total metabolic energy per life span and body mass of only 48 poikilothermic multicellular animals (without Protozoa) is: PT(ls) = A(ls*)M(0.9692) with linear coefficient A(ls*) = 2.34 x 10(5) kJ/kg. Since a power relationship exists between the rate of metabolism and body mass of animals of the type: P = aMk (a and k are the alometric constants), an empiric rule could be formulated, that life span is a time interval for which the total metabolic energy per life span becomes proportional to body mass of animals and power coefficient k becomes approximately 1.0.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physics and Biophysics, Thracian University - Stara Zagora, Armeiska 11 Str., 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. atanastod@abv.bg
authors.forename: Atanas Todorov
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Atanasov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D013045:Species Specificity; D049490:Systems Biology