Metabolic Rate of Female Rats as a Function of Age and Body Size

Abstract

On the basis of 926 respiration trials, metabolic rates of normal female rats are presented as means of 42 different age groups from birth to 1000 days of age. The means with their standard errors are given for the metabolic rates per rat, per kilogram weight, per unit of the 2/3 power of body weight (surface), and per unit of the 3/4 power of body weight (inter specific unit of metabolic body size). A minimum of 72.6 Cal/kg.3/4 occurs between the ages of 200 and 300 days. An equation with two exponentials predicts the metabolic rate of rats from 77–1000 days of age with a standard deviation between prediction and observation of 2.2% of the mean.