Question

Read the passage about the pygmy shrew.

Answer 1

Answer:

A very high metabolism and a very small size.

Explanation:

The pygmy shrew is a very small mammal, that forages day and night. The metabolism of the Pygmy shrew is so high that it must eat at least every 30 minutes or it might die. The best explanation for what happens to the food's mass and energy is that most of the food mass is rapidly used fro building up of the shrew due to its very high metabolism, and a bigger portion of the food is lost from the surface of the body of the shrew, due to its very small size. The combination of these two factors; a very high metabolism (rapidly uses up food material, and generates a large amount of heat in a very short time) and the very small size (makes heat loss due to surface area to volume ratio high) explains what happens to the food mass and energy.