Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
Published on: October 1, 2011
Integration of exercise response and allometric scaling in endotherms
Charles M Bishop1, Robin J Spivey
1School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK. c.bishop@bangor.ac.uk
None:
The relationship between heart beat frequency and the rate of oxygen consumption for different species of birds and mammals is influenced by body size, the type of exercise being undertaken and its intensity. Here a model is presented combining allometric scaling and exercise-induced variations in oxygen consumption and blood flow, when birds and mammals undergo their primary mode of locomotion. Novel relationships, common to the regulatory systems of all endotherms, are found to relate the rate of oxygen consumption, heart-rate, body and heart mass in 24 species of endotherms spanning 5 orders of body mass. We show that these relationships can be derived from linearity between heart-rate and the arteriovenous oxygen difference, present in data from exercise-attuned humans. We find that the metabolic rate of endotherms undergoing their primary mode of locomotion across a range of exercise intensities is quadratically related to heart-rate and that body mass is inferior to heart mass as a predictive scaling variable. The model facilitates graphical comparisons between species, and enables metabolic costs to be extrapolated from heart-rate data whenever direct measurements of oxygen consumption prove prohibitively challenging.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Cellular Adaptation II: Hypertrophy
Metabolic Rate
The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) measures the energy expended at rest.
Several factors influence the...
Derivatives: Problem Solving
Exercise and Cardiovascular Response
Light to moderate physical activity initiates a series of interconnected responses in the body. The heart rate modestly increases in anticipation of the workout, followed by widespread vasodilation as oxygen consumption by skeletal muscles increases. This results in decreased peripheral resistance, increased capillary blood flow, and accelerated...
Growth Models with Integration: Problem Solving
Scaling

