INVESTIGADORES
LUNA Facundo
artículos
Título:
Effect of ambient temperature on evaporative water loss in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum
Autor/es:
BALDO MB; ANTENUCCI CD; LUNA F
Revista:
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
Editorial:
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Referencias:
Año: 2015 vol. 53 p. 113 - 118
ISSN:
0306-4565
Resumen:
Subterranean rodents face unique thermoregulatorychallenges. Evaporative water loss (EWL) is a crucial mechanism for maintainingheat balance in endotherms subjected to heat stress but also leads to potentialdehydration. EWL depends on gradients of temperature and humidity between the surfaceof the individual and the surrounding environment. Underground burrows generallyprovide a stable water vapor saturated atmosphere which may impede evaporative heatloss (EHL). This will mainly occur when ambient temperature exceeds the upper limitof individual´s thermoneutralzone, or when body temperature rises as result of diggingactivities. Here we evaluate the effect of ambient temperature on EWL and energymetabolism in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum (tuco-tucos), which inhabitssealed burrows, but makes an extensive use of the aboveground environment. We observedthat EWL is increased when ambient temperature rises above thermoneutrality; belowthis point, evaporation remains stable. Though EWL contributes to total heat lossby increasing ∼1.3 times at 35 °C, dry thermal conductance is raised four times. In tuco-tucos´ burrows both non-evaporativeand, to some extent, evaporative and behavioral mechanisms are essential for bodytemperature regulation, preventing overheating at high ambient temperatures in awater vapor-saturated atmosphere.