In this article, we review intraspecific studies of basal metabolic rate (BMR) that address the
correlation between diet quality and BMR. The “food-habit hypothesis” stands as one of the …

Flexibility of digestive features can be understood considering the benefits of digestion,
which links animal foraging to metabolizable energy and nutrient gain, and its costs, which …

Global changes in temperature, predator introductions, and pollution might challenge
animals by altering food conditions. A fast-growing source of environmental pollution are …

The effects of different temperatures and diets experienced during distinct life stages are not
necessarily similar. The silver-spoon hypothesis predicts that developing under favorable …

Ecological physiology examines how animals cope with changing environmental demands.
In low-productivity desert habitats, small mammals should consume low-quality, high-fiber …

In the context of evolution and ecology, there is a trade-off between the benefits of
processing food through a digestive system with specific phenotypic attributes and the cost …

Many small mammals inhabiting fluctuating and cold environments display enhanced
capacity for seasonal changes in nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) and thermoregulatory …

Long-term studies have found that low-carbohydrate diets are more effective for weight loss
than calorie-restricted diets in the short term but equally or only marginally more effective in …

Theoretical considerations suggest that one of the main factors determining phenotypic
flexibility of the digestive system is the size (mass) of internal organs. To test this, we used …

Seasonal changes in an animal's morphology, physiology, and behavior are considered to
be an adaptive strategy for survival and reproductive success. We hypothesize that …