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High level of daily heterothermy in desert gerbils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2022

Clara Gyhrs*
Affiliation:
BIOPOLIS, CIBIO-InBIO Associate Laboratory, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal College of Medicine, Veterinary, and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Tiago Macedo
Affiliation:
BIOPOLIS, CIBIO-InBIO Associate Laboratory, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Bárbara Bastos
Affiliation:
BIOPOLIS, CIBIO-InBIO Associate Laboratory, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Xabier Salgado-Irazabal
Affiliation:
BIOPOLIS, CIBIO-InBIO Associate Laboratory, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Mubarak Hammadi
Affiliation:
The Abdurrahman Al Rakkaz Center for Research and Studies, Laayoune, Morocco
Oussama Bouarakia
Affiliation:
SARChi Chair on Biodiversity Value and Change, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Limpopo, South Africa
Zbyszek Boratyński
Affiliation:
BIOPOLIS, CIBIO-InBIO Associate Laboratory, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
*
Author for correspondence: Clara Gyhrs, Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Daily heterothermy is a strategy employed by endothermic birds and mammals to reduce their energetic costs by lowering their metabolic rate. We recorded nocturnal and diurnal rectal temperatures in three Moroccan Gerbillus rodent species to determine the level of heterothermy. A decrease in body temperature from night to day was observed by an average (±SD) of 8.7 (±4.2) in G. gerbillus, 11.1 (±3.0) in G. amoenus, and 7.7 (±3.3)°C in G. sp.1, the first records of heterothermy in the three species. The findings support a prediction that daily heterothermy is found in mammals from arid and semi-arid regions, contributing to further knowledge of thermoregulation in desert rodents.

Type
Field Note
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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