The linear allometric relationship between total metabolic energy per life span and body mass of mammals

The aim of this study is to establish and calculate the exact allometric relationship between the total metabolic energy per life span and the body mass in a wide range of mammals with about six orders of magnitude variation of the body mass of animals. The study shows that it exists a linear relationship between the total metabolic energy per life span PTls (kJ) and the body mass M (kg) of 95 mammals (3 monotremes, Subclass Prototheria, 16 marsupialis (Subclass Theria, Infraclass Metatheria) and 76 placentals (Subclass Theria, Infraclass Eutheria)) from type: PTls = Als+M1.0511, where P (kJ/day) is the basal rate of metabolism and Tls (days) is the mean life span of animals. The linear coefficient Als+ = 7.158 × 105 kJ/kg is the total metabolic energy, exhausted during the life span per 1 kg body mass of the animals. The mean values of the total metabolic energy per life span, per unit body mass (Als) for orders from Subclass Prototheria and Theria (Infraclass Metatheria) and orders Xenarthra, Pholidota, Soricomorpha, Rodentia (Infraclass Eutheria) varied negligible in interval (4.656–5.80) × 105 kJ/kg. The coefficient Als grows from (7.68–8.36) × 105 kJ/kg in Lagomorpha and Artiodactyla (Eutheria) to (10.58–12.64) × 105 kJ/kg in orders Carnivora, Pinnipeda and Chiroptera (Eutheria). Als grows maximum to 18.5 × 105 kJ/kg in Primates. Thus, the values of coefficient Als differ maximum four-fold in all orders. Across the all species the values of Als are changes about one order of magnitude. Consequently, our survey shows that the changes of the body mass, basal metabolic rate and the life span of animals are three mutually related parameters, so that the product Als = (PTls)/M remains relatively constant in comparison to 1 million fold difference in body mass and total metabolic energy per life span between mammals.