Percent body fat at birth of 15 mammalian species

Range Figure - link %
Organism Mammals
Reference Leonard WR, Robertson ML, Snodgrass JJ, Kuzawa CW. Metabolic correlates of hominid brain evolution. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2003 Sep136(1):5-15 p.11 figure 6PubMed ID14527625
Primary Source Kuzawa CW, Adipose tissue in human infancy and childhood: an evolutionary perspective. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1998Suppl 27: 177-209.PubMed ID9881526
Comments P.11 right column bottom paragraph: "Fig. 6 compares percent body fat at birth among mammals (adapted from primary source). At ∼15–16% human infants have the highest body fat levels of the 15 species shown here. Not only is the large-brained human newborn especially fat, but there appears to be a link between relative body fatness at birth and levels of encepalization across mammals generally. For the species shown in Fig. 6, the correlation between relative adult brain size and relative body fatness at birth is 0.61 (P<0.05). Although the number of data points is small the results are consistent with [investigators'] expectations – species devoting a larger percentage of metabolism to meeting the obligatory demands of a large brain also increase the size of the energy buffer, as represented by fat stores."
Entered by Uri M
ID 113759