An experiment on compensatory growth in lacertid lizards from a population in Suzhou, Anhui, eastern China, after different periods of starvation, was conducted from May to June and September to October 2001. All lizards used in this study were adult males. The experiment lasted for 24 days for each test group. Group C, S3, S6, S9 were deprived of food for 0 (control), 3, 6 and 9 days, respectively. Then each group was fed for the rest of the experimental period. There were significant differences in food intake and mass change among the experimental groups during the course of weight recovery. S9 had higher food intake and mass change than S3 and group C. There were no obvious differences in the apparent digestive coefficient (ADC) or assimilation efficiency (AE) among experimental groups. The results indicate that there was a compensatory effect in weight recovery following starvation, and that the compensatory effect mainly resulted from significant increase in feeding intensity during weight recovery.
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