The Respiratory Metabolism of the Chimpanzee

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Abstract
Measurements were made of the B.M.R. of 22 chimpanzees ranging in weight from 3 to 50 kg. and in age from 2 months to 15 years, including both sexes. The post-absorptive condition was reached after 12 hours of fasting, when the respiratory quotient was approximately 0.82. The zone of thermic neutrality for the chimpanzee accustomed to heated winter quarters was between 20[degree] and 29[degree] C, and for the chimpanzee inured to cold extended to as low as 17[degree] C. The hair covering played little role in the conservation of heat between 20[degree] and 29[degree] C. The variability in the B.M.R. was greater than that to be expected with well-conditioned humans. Season and sex had no sharply defined effects. Menstruation had a variable effect. The total heat production increased continually from youth to adult age; per kilogram of body weight it was higher, the younger and smaller the chimpanzee. The heat production per 10 w 2/3 was, however, fairly uniform at all the weights and ages studied, that of the adult being, on the average, 980 calories per 10 w 2/3. [A short account of the study was published as "Chimpanzee metabolism." Proc. Nation. Acad. U. S. A. 22: 394-397. 1936.].

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