Sexual dimorphism and correlations in Tamandua tetradactyla adrenocortical and behavioral activities

EGUIZABAL GABINA; ASENCIO CAMILA; SUPERINA MARIELLA; VILLARREAL DANIEL; PALME R; BUSSO JM

Florencia

Encuentro; Annual Meeting of Society for Experimental Biology; 2018

The study of daily physiological and behavioural patterns in controlled conditions through non-invasive techniques is a first step to understand how animals respond to anthropogenic disturbances. In this study, adrenocortical and behavioural activities of adult lesser anteaters (Tamandua tetradactyla; 3 males, 3 females) from Cordoba Zoo, Argentina were characterised during 29 consecutive days of autumn 2016 (April 21-May 20). Animals were housed in individual and contiguous enclosures, under natural photoperiod and temperature; and fed with a balanced diet and food-based environmental enrichment. All faeces were collected and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) were measured with an 11-oxoaetiocholanolone EIA. Activity pattern was monitored continuously using infrared cameras, sampling behaviour every 5 minutes (8640 registers/individual). Average FGM (µg/g faeces; mean±SEM) was 3.1±0.2; with individual (P