Home-Range and Activity Patterns of the South American Subterranean Rodent Ctenomys Talarum

Cutrera, A; Antinuchi, C. Daniel; Mora, Matías S.; Vassallo, Aldo Iván

doi:10.1644/05-mamm-a-386r1.1

Cited by 84 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Although fluctuations in T a within the burrows are buffered in relation to surface T a s (9.5 ± 2.9°C during winter, 29.1 ± 2.7°C during summer; Cutrera and Antinuchi 2004), individuals are also exposed to aboveground T a variation, since surface exploration is common during their regular, but short, bouts to gather food near the burrow 0 s openings (see Luna and Antinuchi 2003;Antinuchi et al 2007), or during dispersal periods (Malizia et al 1995). Therefore, the inability to increase both coldinduced MMR and NST in C. talarum after cold acclimation suggest that extreme T a s do not represent a challenge for individuals when they are aboveground, allowing an arrhythmic pattern of activity outside the burrows throughout the day (Luna et al 2000;Cutrera et al 2006). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximal thermogenic capacity and non-shivering thermogenesis in the South American subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

et al. 2012

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Subterranean rodents inhabit closed tunnel systems that are hypoxic and hypercapnic and buffer aboveground ambient temperature. In contrast to other strictly subterranean rodents, Ctenomys talarum exhibits activity on the surface during foraging and dispersion and hence, is exposed also to the aboveground environment. In this context, this species is a valuable model to explore how the interplay between underground and aboveground use affects the relationship among basal metabolic rate (BMR), cold-induced maximum metabolic rate (MMR), shivering (ST), and non-shivering thermogenesis (NST). In this work, we provide the first evidence of the presence of NST, including the expression of uncoupling proteins in brown adipose tissue (BAT), and shivering thermogenesis in Ctenomys talarum, a species belonging to the most numerous subterranean genus, endemic to South America. Our results show no differences in BMR, cold-induced MMR, and NST between cold- (15 °C) and warm- (25 °C) acclimated individuals. Furthermore, thermal acclimation had no effect on the expression of mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in BAT. Only cytochrome c oxidase (COX) content and activity increased during cold acclimation. When interscapular BAT was removed, NST decreased more than 30%, whereas cold-induced MMR remained unchanged. All together, these data suggest that cold-induced MMR reaches a maximum in warm-acclimated individuals and so a probable ceiling in NST and UCP1 expression in BAT. Possible thermogenic mechanisms explaining the increase in the oxidative capacity, mediated by COX in BAT of cold-acclimated individuals and the role of ST in subterranean life habits are proposed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximal thermogenic capacity and non-shivering thermogenesis in the South American subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

et al. 2012

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“…The mtDNA has non-recombinant maternal inheritance, which allows the retention of haplotypes shared between populations recently isolated, or to keep the differentiation between populations in recent secondary contact that had previously differentiated in allopatry. Whereas, male-biased dispersal, that is characteristic of the species of the genus (Malizia and Busch, 1991;Cutrera et al, 2006), can lead to faster and farther dissemination of alleles of nuclear molecular markers relative to mtDNA, and associated with the nuclear genome recombination and high mutation rates of microsatellite loci, it can mask the signals of historical evolutionary processes in the nuclear genome (Petit and Excoffier, 2009;Yang and Kenagy, 2009). …”

Section: Geographical Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of chromosomal rearrangements and geographical barriers in the divergence of lineages in a South American subterranean rodent (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae: Ctenomys minutus)

et al. 2013

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Identifying factors and the extent of their roles in the differentiation of populations is of great importance for understanding the evolutionary process in which a species is involved. Ctenomys minutus is a highly karyotype-polymorphic subterranean rodent, with diploid numbers ranging from 42 to 50 and autosomal arm numbers (ANs) ranging from 68 to 80, comprising a total of 45 karyotypes described so far. This species inhabits the southern Brazilian coastal plain, which has a complex geological history, with several potential geographical barriers acting on different time scales. We assessed the geographical genetic structure of C. minutus, examining 340 individuals over the entire distributional range and using information from chromosomal rearrangements, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences and 14 microsatellite loci. The mtDNA results revealed seven main haplogroups, with the most recent common ancestors dating from the Pleistocene, whereas clustering methods defined 12 populations. Some boundaries of mtDNA haplogroups and population clusters can be associated with potential geographical barriers to gene flow. The isolation-by-distance pattern also has an important role in fine-scale genetic differentiation, which is strengthened by the narrowness of the coastal plain and by common features of subterranean rodents (that is, small fragmented populations and low dispersal rates), which limit gene flow among populations. A step-by-step mechanism of chromosomal evolution can be suggested for this species, mainly associated with the metapopulation structure, genetic drift and the geographical features of the southern Brazilian coastal plain. However, chromosomal variations have no or very little role in the diversification of C. minutus populations.

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“…This little effect of maternal odors on food choice observed in tuco-tucos contrasts to what was observed in more social lagomorph and rodent species, like O. cuniculus (Bilkó et al 1994;Altbäcker et al 1995;Hudson et al 1999) and R. norvegicus (Galef and Beck 1985;Laland and Plotkin 1991;Galef 1998). These species, whose dietary preferences are to a certain extent socially transmitted, differ from tuco-tucos in their behavioral and ecological traits, e.g., they are cursorial species that have gregarious habits (Wilson and Reeder 2005) and, by contrast, C. talarum is a solitary subterranean rodent (Cutrera et al 2006). These facts suggest that individual learning, rather than social learning mediated by maternal odors, might explain the development of food preferences in our experiment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…We did not manipulate mother's diet before odor collection in order to reflect changes in pup's dietary preferences, so close to what happens in free-living animals. We only tested maternal odors because freeliving Los Talas' tuco-tucos are solitary (Cutrera et al 2006), and pups rely exclusively on maternal care to survive (Zenuto et al 2001). …”

Section: Collection Of Odor Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of maternal odors on foraging behavior during postnatal development in a solitary subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

Echeverría

Vassallo

2011

acta ethol

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We investigated the role of maternal odors emanating from excretory deposits and/or glandular secretions during the postnatal development of foraging and related behaviors in young Los Talas' tuco-tucos (Ctenomys talarum), a solitary rodent, under seminatural conditions. During cafeteria tests, we offered them two of the grasses most preferred by adults of this species (bromegrass, Bromus unioloides and panicgrass, Panicum racemosum). We scent marked one dietary option in a treatment group, and the other option in a second treatment group, keeping a third group with no odors as control. Pups did not show to prefer a special grass in particular, and maternal odors showed no effect on the behavioral variables evaluated in this study. When they reached their weaning age, they showed an ontogenetic change in food preferences, where they preferred bromegrass, and maternal odors influenced negatively on the consumption of panicgrass. During dispersal, preference for bromegrass was expressed independently of the presence of maternal odors. Overall, their effect was less pronounced than age's effect, and it was evident in only a subset of the conducted experiments. This study shows that the influence of maternal odors is not essential for the establishment of feeding or site preferences in this species in seminatural conditions, contrarily to what was observed in other studies performed with social mammal species (i.e., rats and rabbits). It is suggested that other factors (e.g., individual learning) might influence the observed preferences.

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Home-Range and Activity Patterns of the South American Subterranean Rodent Ctenomys Talarum

Cited by 84 publications

References 65 publications

Maximal thermogenic capacity and non-shivering thermogenesis in the South American subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

Maximal thermogenic capacity and non-shivering thermogenesis in the South American subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

The role of chromosomal rearrangements and geographical barriers in the divergence of lineages in a South American subterranean rodent (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae: Ctenomys minutus)

Role of maternal odors on foraging behavior during postnatal development in a solitary subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

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