What transport adaptations enable mammals to absorb sugars and amino acids faster than reptiles?
What digestive adaptations enable mammals to process much more food in much less time with equal or higher digestive efficiency than reptiles and thus to sustain much higher metabolic rates? To answer this question, we measured glucose and proline uptake in small intestinal sleeves of three mammal and three reptile species of similar body size and natural diet. All species exhibit saturable, stereospecific uptake of D-glucose and Na+-dependent L-proline uptake. Passive permeability to glucose is high in hamsters and low in the other species. Uptake increases with temperature up to a maximum around 45-50 degrees C. This temperature dependence may help explain why reptiles bask after meals and why their digestion is impaired if basking is prevented. The total uptake capacity of the small intestine for glucose and proline is seven times higher in mammals than similar-sized reptiles, mainly because the area of mammalian intestine is 4-5.5 times greater. Minor reasons for the higher uptake
