Scaling Laws in Physiology: Relationships between Size, Function, Metabolism and Life Expectancy

Among animals many physiological processes, such as metabolic rate per unit mass, depend on body mass (M) as χ M, where b is the scaling exponent. This power-law scaling is valid even in a class of animals that vary widely in size (from mouse to blue whale). Most of scientists have searched for a single cause to explain this observed allometry. However, it might be so that the scaling exponent b is the sum of the influences of multiple contributors starting from the mammals' evolution, genetic origin, maturation and capillary network up to seasonal and physiologic adaptation. In the present review, I apply this universal equation to study mammals' circulatory network, function, metabolism and life expectancy.

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