Effect of ambient temperature on evaporative water loss in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

Baldo, María Belén; Antenucci, C. Daniel; Luna, Facundo

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2015.09.002

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Mammals can lose heat by physical routes that is radiation, convection, conduction, or evaporation. Evaporation is the most effective way of cooling; however, it is limited in water-saturated environments or when water for sweating is not available (Baldo, Antenucci & Luna, 2015;McNab, 2002;Withers et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, subterranean mammals usually lack longer body appendages, which would facilitate heat radiation (see above). The ability to lose heat via convection in sealed tunnels with very restricted (if any) air currents is also extremely limited (Baldo, Antenucci & Luna, 2015;Burda, Šumbera & Begall, 2007). The best way to dissipate a surplus of heat seems to be cooling via conduction through appressing the body surface to the colder tunnel walls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Functional histology of the skin in the subterranean African giant mole-rat: thermal windows are determined solely by pelage characteristics

Pleštilová

Okrouhlík

Burda

et al. 2020

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Excavation of burrows is an extremely physically demanding activity producing a large amount of metabolic heat. Dissipation of its surplus is crucial to avoid the risk of overheating, but in subterranean mammals it is complicated due to the absence of notable body extremities and high humidity in their burrows. IR-thermography in a previous study on two species of African mole-rats revealed that body heat was dissipated mainly through the ventral body part, which is notably less furred. Here, we analyzed the dorsal and ventral skin morphology, to test if dermal characteristics could contribute to higher heat dissipation through the ventral body part. The thickness of the epidermis and dermis and the presence, extent and connectivity of fat tissue in the dermis were examined using routine histological methods, while vascular density was evaluated using fluorescent dye and confocal microscopy in the giant mole-rat Fukomys mechowii. As in other hitherto studied subterranean mammals, no subcutaneous adipose tissue was found. All examined skin characteristics were very similar for both dorsal and ventral regions: relative content of adipose tissue in the dermis (14.4 ± 3.7% dorsally and 11.0 ± 4.0% ventrally), connectivity of dermal fat (98.5 ± 2.8% and 95.5 ± 6.8%), vascular density (26.5 ± 3.3% and 22.7 ± 2.3%). Absence of large differences in measured characteristics between particular body regions indicates that the thermal windows are determined mainly by the pelage characteristics.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional histology of the skin in the subterranean African giant mole-rat: thermal windows are determined solely by pelage characteristics

Pleštilová

Okrouhlík

Burda

et al. 2020

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our results show that the BMR and TEWL of rodents is low when individuals are reared in the warm and with restricted water (Tables S2 and S3). In this context, reductions in BMR and TEWL in desert mammals have been shown to be related to the need to maintain heat and water balance (Van Sant et al, 2012;Baldo et al, 2015). Similarly, Ostrowski et al (2006) found a reduction in the mass-specific resting metabolic rate (16%) and the TEWL (25.7%) of desert antelope (Oryx leucoryx) acclimated to water and food shortage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Early life experience drives short-term acclimation of metabolic and osmoregulatory traits in the leaf-eared mouse

Cavieres

Nuñez-Villegas

Bozinovic

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We studied the putative effect of early life experience on the physiological flexibility of metabolic and osmoregulatory traits in the leaf-eared mouse, Phyllotis darwini, an altricial rodent inhabiting seasonal Mediterranean environments. Adult individuals were collected in central Chile and maintained in breeding pairs. Pups were isolated after weaning and acclimated to different temperatures (cold or warm) and water availability (unrestricted and restricted) until adulthood. Subsequently, individuals were re-acclimated to the opposite treatment. Rodents reared in the warm and subjected to water restriction had lower basal metabolic rate (BMR), total evaporative water loss (TEWL) and body mass (M b ) compared with those developing in the cold treatment; nevertheless, individuals subjected to warm temperatures had greater relative medullary thickness (RMT) and urine concentrating ability (UCA). Cold-reared rodents re-acclimated to warm conditions exhibited physiological flexibility of metabolic traits; however, their osmoregulatory attributes did not vary. Conversely, warm-reared rodents re-acclimated to cold had reduced RMT and UCA, but the metabolic traits of these individuals did not change. These results suggest a trade-off between metabolic performance and renal capabilities that might hinder physiological acclimation. Our results support the hypothesis of ontogenetic dependence of short-term acclimation in osmoregulatory and metabolic traits in P. darwini.

show abstract

“…timing their digging activity according to burrow temperatures or moving to cooler parts of the burrow (Burda et al 2007). Moreover, it is known that other fossorial rodents will be exposed to only small temperature variations inside burrows (McNab 1966, Baldo et al 2015. Further studies could address daily and annual temperature ranges within burrows and evaluate the whole set of behavioral strategies to cope with temperature variation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Segmented linear regression was used to evaluate the effects of T a on metabolic rate. Among the different functions obtained, we selected the one that maximized the statistical coefficient of explanation (see Baldo et al 2015). Circadian effect on V .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature and circadian effects on metabolic rate of South American echimyid rodents, Trinomys setosus and Clyomys bishopi (Rodentia: Echimyidae)

Fabio-Braga¹,

Klein²

2018

Zoologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) represents the lowest level of metabolic activity capable to sustain homeostasis in an endotherm and is an important tool to compare metabolic rates of different species. Echimyidae is the most specious family within caviomorph rodents, however, little is known about the biology of its species, such as Trinomys setosus (Desmarest, 1817) and Clyomys bishopi (Ávila-Pires & Wutke, 1981), a ground and an underground dwelling echimyid, respectively. The ambient temperature and circadian effects on metabolic rate were evaluated through closed-system respirometry for these two species, as well as the circadian effects on CO 2 production and respiratory exchange ratio (RER). Trinomys setosus and C. bishopi showed the lowest metabolic rates (0.56 ± 0.02 mLO 2 .h , respectively) at 32 °C and during the light phase. Under laboratory conditions, T. setosus showed metabolic rate variation compatible with nocturnal activity, whereas C. bishopi activity cycle remains unclear. Both species showed BMR lower than expected by allometric regressions for rodents.

show abstract

Effect of ambient temperature on evaporative water loss in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

Cited by 19 publications

References 41 publications

Functional histology of the skin in the subterranean African giant mole-rat: thermal windows are determined solely by pelage characteristics

Functional histology of the skin in the subterranean African giant mole-rat: thermal windows are determined solely by pelage characteristics

Early life experience drives short-term acclimation of metabolic and osmoregulatory traits in the leaf-eared mouse

Temperature and circadian effects on metabolic rate of South American echimyid rodents, Trinomys setosus and Clyomys bishopi (Rodentia: Echimyidae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About