. The Ecology of arboreal folivores : a symposium held at the Conservation and Research Center, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, May 29-31, 1975. Folivores; Forest ecology; Leaves; Mammals; Mammals. either on the ground or as dew on the leaves during the night and early morning. The availability of pre- formed and metabolic water, the major inputs of water for an arboreal mammal, depends on the nu- tritional composition and palatability of the leaves being eaten. Water is lost as urinary water, fecal water, met- abolic water (water which would have been produced by metabolism
. The Ecology of arboreal folivores : a symposium held at the Conservation and Research Center, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, May 29-31, 1975. Folivores; Forest ecology; Leaves; Mammals; Mammals. either on the ground or as dew on the leaves during the night and early morning. The availability of pre- formed and metabolic water, the major inputs of water for an arboreal mammal, depends on the nu- tritional composition and palatability of the leaves being eaten. Water is lost as urinary water, fecal water, met- abolic water (water which would have been produced by metabolism of the feces), and evaporative losses. Water loss in the urine is regulated by the kidney via antidiuretic hormone which is released from the pit- uitary in response to an increased osmotic concentra- tion in the blood. The free water content of the feces appears to be regulated by the colon, while the met- abolic water content of feces is a reflection of the di- gestive efficiency of the animal. The amount of water required for evaporative cooling depends on the ac- tivity of the animal and its adaptation to a particular thermal environment. Although a large number of studies of various as- pects of water metabolism have been reported for a number of mammals, investigations into the complete (, partitioned) water balance of mammals have been carried out largely on rodents, ungulates, and perameloid and macropodid marsupials, none of the species being arboreal. This paper discusses the water metabolism of the koala (an animal which is alleged to never drink in the wild) in the context of its energy metabolism and thermoregulation. The koala, an extremely specialized arboreal folivore (Freeland and Janzen, 1974), is un- usual among the arboreal marsupials in that, in com- mon with the tree-kangaroos (Breeden and Breeden, 1970), it does not appear to use any form of shelter. This independence from shelter appears to be wide- spread, however, among arboreal eutherians. The ko
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcolle, booksubjectleaves, booksubjectmammals
