Evaporative water loss and metabolic parameters under variations in ambient temperature and humidity, for the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum (tuco-tuco)

ANTENUCCI CD; BALDO MB; LUNA F

Belfast

Congreso; XI International Mammalogical Congress; 2013

Although subterranean rodents usually inhabit stable environments, they are exposed to ambient variations during foraging, mating and dispersal. This is so for Ctenomys talarum whose burrows are characterized by stable temperature, high relative humidity (RH), hypoxia and hypercapnia. They are exposed not only to variation in these variables when leaving the nest, but also may be affected by annual climatic fluctuations. We evaluate how ambient temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) influence water and energy balance, by estimating evaporative water loss (EWL), basal metabolic rate (BMR), and associated parameters. As expected, body temperature (Tb) and conductance were positively, and BMR negatively correlated with T (p