ScienceAsia 9 (1983): 005-026 |doi: 10.2306/scienceasia1513-1874.1983.09.005

ALLOMETRIC RELATIONSHIPS OF THE SIAMESE CROCODILE, CROCDODYLUS SIAMENSIS.

THYON CHENTANEZ^a, SARA E. HUGGINS^b, and VILAI CHENTANEZ^c.

ABSTRACT: Relationships of length and/or weight of the brain head, gut, kidneys, heart and the body of Siamese crocodiles, Crocodylus siamensis, 1 month to 4 years old including both males and females were studied.

In young crocodiles the rate of increase in body length relative to body weight was faster than in older animals. The body weight to body length ratio increased linearly with the body weight between 3-25 kg. In small animals less than 1 kg, the ratio was relatively smaller. Head weight was linearly proportional to the body weight. Head length was linearly proportional to total body length. The depth and the width of the head were both linearly proportional to the length of the head, but the head length was increasing more rapidly than either of the other two dimensiqns and head width increased more rapidly than the head depth. The brain weight increased with increase in head and body weight but a much slower relative rate. Brain, weight was linearly proportional to the body length.

As the brain and body of the crocodile grow they do not preserve the same proportions. There was exponential increase in the gut length with respect to increase in the body length. There was linear increase in kidney weight with respect ot body weight and sigmoidal increase in heart weight with respect to the body weight of the crocodile.

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a Department of Physiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama VI Rd, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand,
b Department of Biology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004, USA, and
c Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Rama IV Rd., Bangkok 10500, Thailand.

Received 24 December 1982