The researchers followed five captive and three wild giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) for about a year. By using GPS trackers and analyzing chemicals excreted in the pandas’ poop, they were able to measure the amount of energy the pandas spent each day. Surprisingly, the pandas expended only about 38 percent of the energy that an animal with the same body mass would require.
研究员们跟踪观察了五只圈养大熊猫和三只野生大熊猫约一年时间,通过定位追踪和分析熊猫粪便,他们得以估算出熊猫每天消耗的热量总和。令人诧异的是,大熊猫只需消耗与它同等体型的动物所需热量的38%。
“We thought the metabolism of the panda would be low because the bamboo diet contains low energy,” said senior author Fuwen Wei, a professor of zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. “But it is very surprising that it is this exceptionally low, equal to the three-toed sloth, and much lower than the koala.”
“我们认为熊猫的新陈代谢很低,因为竹子中含有的热量很少,”研究负责人魏福文(音译)说道,他是中国科学院动物学的专家,“但是我们没想到竟然会这么低,和三趾树懒差不多,比考拉要低三分之二。”
In addition to highly evolved behavior, biology comes into play, too. Autopsies revealed low-energy wetware inside those big puffy bodies. Specifically, panda livers, kidneys and even their brains are smaller than those of other bears. This saves energy. Finally, their metabolic-managing thyroid hormones are also lower than those seen in other similarly sized mammals. According to the researchers, the levels were lower than even those in hibernating black bears.
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