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Sugar and protein digestion in flowerpiercers and hummingbirds: a comparative test of adaptive convergence

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Abstract

Flowerpiercers are the most specialized nectar-feeding passerines in the Neotropics. They are nectar robbers that feed on the sucrose-rich diet of hummingbirds. To test the hypothesis that flowerpiercers have converged with hummingbirds in digestive traits, we compared the activity of intestinal enzymes and the gut nominal area of cinnamon-bellied flowerpiercers (Diglossa baritula) with those of eleven hummingbird species. We measured sucrase, maltase, and aminopeptidase-N activities. To provide a comparative context, we also compared flowerpiercers and hummingbirds with 29 species of passerines. We analyzed enzyme activity using both standard allometric analyses and phylogenetically independent contrasts. Both approaches revealed the same patterns. With the exception of sucrase activity, hummingbirds’ digestive traits were indistinguishable from those of passerines. Sucrase activity was ten times higher in hummingbirds than in passerines. Hummingbirds and passerines also differed in the relationship between intestinal maltase and sucrase activities. Maltase activity was two times higher per unit of sucrase activity in passerines than in hummingbirds. The sucrase activity of D. baritula was much lower than that of hummingbirds, and not unlike that expected for a passerine of its body mass. With the exception of aminopeptidase-N activity, the digestive traits of D. baritula were not different from those of other passerines.

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Fig. 1A, B
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Abbreviations

K m :

Michaelis-Menten constant

PDAP:

phenotypic diversity analysis program

PIC:

phylogenetic independent contrast

V max :

maximal reaction velocity

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Acknowledgements

Irma Ruan-Tejeda, David Valenzuela, Jose G. Carrillo, Claudet Guerrero and Mario López-Vieyra helped during field-work. Melissa K. Schroer and Enriquena Bustamante helped with the enzyme assays. Todd McWhorter shared unpublished enzyme activity for several bird species. Claudia Nepote provided critical logistical support during data analysis. Francisco Ornelas kindly provided us with unpublished data on hummingbird phylogenetic relationships. Kevin Bonine offered his time and expertise to generate the values for the phylogenetic independent contrasts. Funding for this project came from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, the Chonadobe Fund for Third World Students, and a doctoral fellowship from CONACyT, Mexico (125663). This research project was conducted with permission from the National Institute of Ecology (INE), Mexico, and approved by the University of Arizona Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0088, USA

    J. E. Schondube

  2. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, UNAM, Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari), 58089 , Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    J. E. Schondube

  3. Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY , 82071-3166, USA

    C. Martinez del Rio

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  1. J. E. Schondube
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Correspondence to J. E. Schondube.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier

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Schondube, J.E., Martinez del Rio, C. Sugar and protein digestion in flowerpiercers and hummingbirds: a comparative test of adaptive convergence. J Comp Physiol B 174, 263–273 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-003-0411-3

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