Rhythmic 24 h variation of core body temperature and locomotor activity in a subterranean rodent (Ctenomys aff. knighti), the tuco-tuco.

ABSTRACT: The tuco-tuco Ctenomys aff. knighti is a subterranean rodent which inhabits a semi-arid area in Northwestern Argentina. Although they live in underground burrows where environmental cycles are attenuated, they display robust, 24 h locomotor activity rhythms that are synchronized by light/dark cycles, both in laboratory and field conditions. The underground environment also poses energetic challenges (e.g. high-energy demands of digging, hypoxia, high humidity, low food availability) that have motivated thermoregulation studies in several subterranean rodent species. By using chronobiological protocols, the present work aims to contribute towards these studies by exploring day-night variations of thermoregulatory functions in tuco-tucos, starting with body temperature and its temporal relat

SUBMITTER: Tachinardi P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3893220 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature