Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM)

As expected, the metabolic rate of N.ornata was low indicating a hypo-metabolic strategy to save energy and reduced cardiac workload in an oxygen starved environment. The LCT of the TNZ shared similarity from outside the Tinamidae family but unexpectedly not from within. This study indicates a genetic basis for ventricular hypertrophy in the Ornate tinamou, consistent with previous morphological data. Also, indications of an increase in glycolytic metabolism provide grounds for speculating on how N.ornata compensate for having a small heart in a hypoxic environment by alteration of metabolic activity.