© 1976 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Fat, Energy and Mammalian Survival
Metabolic Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine Burlington, Vermont 05401
Adipose tissue plays a critical role in mammalian life history strategies, serving as an organ for the storage of food and energy, as a source of heat and water and as thermal insulation. The food and energy storage roles are especially important in allowing the animals to survive food shortages and stresses associated with competition for mates, territorial defense, gestation and lactation, and to accomplish migrations. The composition, cellularity and anatomical site of adipose depots in a mammal can influence both the amount of fat stored and its availability and usefulness in any given situation. The fatty acids and complex lipids in adipose tissue, blood vessels, nerves and brain change in response to ambient temperature and the low body temperatures during hibernation. Early nutrition may influence the number of fat cells developed by a mammal, and thus affect its ability to survive adversity. Desert species develop localized depots which will not interfere with temperature regulation, while animals in cold environments use their extensive superficial fat layers as insulation.