Largest and smallest species of eyelid geckos appear here in proportion, though somewhat smaller than life size. Credit: Zuzana Starostová & Lukáš KratochvílFrom Live Science:
When it comes to metabolism, size matters—cell size, that is, according to a recent study.
Small animals have faster metabolisms relative to their body size than do large animals. According to the so-called metabolic theory of ecology, that scaling is responsible for many patterns in nature—from the average lifespan of a single species to the population dynamics of an entire ecosystem. Although scientists generally agree on the theory's fundamentals, they disagree on the reasons for the scaling. One camp thinks metabolic rate is driven by cell size; another thinks it corresponds to the size and geometry of physiological supply networks, such as the circulatory system.
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