Activity range – the amount of time spent active per day – is a fundamental aspect contributing to the optimization process by which animals achieve energetic balance. Based on their size and the nature of their diet, theoretical expectations are that larger carnivores need more time active to fulfil their energetic needs than do smaller ones and also more time active than similar‐sized non‐carnivores. Despite the relationship between daily activity, individual range and energy acquisition, large‐scale relationships between activity range and body mass among wild mammals have never been properly addressed. This study aimed to understand the scaling of activity range with body mass, while controlling for phylogeny and diet. We built simple empirical predictions for the scaling of activity range with body mass for mammals of different trophic guilds and used a phylogenetically controlled mixed model to test these predictions using activity records of 249 mammal populations (128 species) in 19 tropical forests (in 15 countries) obtained using camera traps. Our scaling model predicted a steeper scaling of activity range in carnivores (0.21) with higher levels of activity (higher intercept), and near‐zero scaling in herbivores (0.04). Empirical data showed that activity ranges scaled positively with body mass for carnivores (0.061), which also had higher intercept value, but not for herbivores, omnivores and insectivores, in general, corresponding with the predictions. Despite the many factors that shape animal activity at local scales, we found a general pattern showing that large carnivores need more time active in a day to meet their energetic demands.

中文翻译：

---

关于热带森林哺乳动物活动的规模

活动范围-每天花费在活动上的时间-是促进动物达到能量平衡的优化过程的一个基本方面。根据它们的大小和饮食的性质，理论上的期望是，大型食肉动物比小型食肉动物需要更多的时间来满足其能量需求，并且比类似大小的非食肉动物需要更多的时间。尽管日常活动，个体活动范围和能量获取之间存在关系，但野生哺乳动物活动范围与体重之间的大规模关系从未得到适当解决。这项研究旨在了解活动范围与体重的关系，同时控制系统发育和饮食。我们针对不同营养协会的哺乳动物建立了活动范围随体重变化的简单经验预测，并使用系统发育控制的混合模型，使用了19个热带森林（在15个国家/地区）的249个哺乳动物种群（128种）的活动记录来检验这些预测）使用相机陷阱获得。我们的缩放模型预测，食肉动物的活动范围（0.21）具有较高的活动水平（截距较高），活动范围的缩放比例较陡，草食动物的活动范围的缩放比例接近零（0.04）。经验数据表明，食肉动物的活动范围与体重呈正比关系（0.061），也具有较高的拦截值，但食草动物，杂食动物和食虫动物的活动范围总体上与预测相符。尽管有许多因素影响着当地规模的动物活动，