The Interplay of Energy Balance and Daily Timing of Activity in a Subterranean Rodent: A Laboratory and Field Approach

Autor(es)

Tachinardi, Patricia ^[1] ; Valentinuzzi, Veronica S. ^[2] ; Oda, Gisele A. ^[1] ; Buck, C. Loren ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Ctr Reg Invest Cient & Transferencia Tecnol CRILA, La Rioja - Argentina

^[3] No Arizona Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Ctr Bioengn Innovat, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 - USA

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ZOOLOGY; v. 90, n. 5, p. 546-552, SEP-OCT 2017.
• Citações Web of Science: 2

Resumo

The tuco-tuco (Ctenomys aff. knighti) is among the rodent species known to be nocturnal under standard laboratory conditions and diurnal under natural conditions. The circadian thermoenergetics (CTE) hypothesis postulates that switches in activity timing are a response to energetic challenges; daytime activity reduces thermoregulatory costs by consolidating activity to the warmest part of the day. Studying wild animals under both captive and natural conditions can increase understanding of how temporal activity patterns are shaped by the environment and could serve as a test of the CTE hypothesis. We estimated the effects of activity timing on energy expenditure for the tuco-tuco by combining laboratory measurements of metabolic rate with environmental temperature records in both winter and summer. We showed that, in winter, there would be considerable energy savings if activity is allocated at least partially during daylight, lending support to the CTE hypothesis. In summer, the impact of activity timing on energy expenditure is small, suggesting that during this season other factors, such as predation risk, water balance, and social interaction, may have more important roles than energetics in the determination of activity time. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 12/23393-5 - Padrões temporais diários de dispêndio energético no roedor subterrâneo Ctenomys aff. knighti, o tuco-tuco
• Beneficiário: Patricia Tachinardi Andrade Silva
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 14/20671-0 - Cronobiologia de roedores subterrâneos sul americanos, em laboratório e em campo
• Beneficiário: Gisele Akemi Oda
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 12/15767-2 - Cronobiologia de roedores subterrâneos (Ctenomys aff. knighti), em laboratório e em campo
• Beneficiário: Gisele Akemi Oda
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular