Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Seasonal patterns of body temperature daily rhythms in group-living cape ground squirrels xerus inauris
PLoS ONE, Volume 7, No. 4, Article e36053, Year 2012
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Organisms respond to cyclical environmental conditions by entraining their endogenous biological rhythms. Such physiological responses are expected to be substantial for species inhabiting arid environments which incur large variations in daily and seasonal ambient temperature (Ta). We measured core body temperature (Tb) daily rhythms of Cape ground squirrels Xerus inauris inhabiting an area of Kalahari grassland for six months from the Austral winter through to the summer. Squirrels inhabited two different areas: an exposed flood plain and a nearby wooded, shady area, and occurred in different social group sizes, defined by the number of individuals that shared a sleeping burrow. Of a suite of environmental variables measured, maximal daily Ta provided the greatest explanatory power for mean Tb whereas sunrise had greatest power for Tb acrophase. There were significant changes in mean Tb and Tb acrophase over time with mean Tb increasing and Tb acrophase becoming earlier as the season progressed. Squirrels also emerged from their burrows earlier and returned to them later over the measurement period. Greater increases in Tb, sometimes in excess of 5°C, were noted during the first hour post emergence, after which Tb remained relatively constant. This is consistent with observations that squirrels entered their burrows during the day to 'offload' heat. In addition, greater Tb amplitude values were noted in individuals inhabiting the flood plain compared with the woodland suggesting that squirrels dealt with increased environmental variability by attempting to reduce their Ta-Tb gradient. Finally, there were significant effects of age and group size on Tb with a lower and less variable Tb in younger individuals and those from larger group sizes. These data indicate that Cape ground squirrels have a labile Tb which is sensitive to a number of abiotic and biotic factors and which enables them to be active in a harsh and variable environment. © 2012 Scantlebury et al.
Authors & Co-Authors
David M. Scantlebury, Michael
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
United Kingdom, Belfast
Queen's University Belfast
Danek-Gontard, Marine
United Kingdom, Belfast
Queen's University Belfast
Bateman, Philip William
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Bennett, Nigel C.
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Manjerovic, Mary Beth
United States, Orlando
University of Central Florida
Joubert, Kenneth Edward
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Waterman, Jane M.
United States, Orlando
University of Central Florida
Canada, Winnipeg
University of Manitoba
Statistics
Citations: 9
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0036053
e-ISSN:
19326203
Research Areas
Infectious Diseases