Resumen

MEROI A, Facundo R; LUNA, Facundo  y  ANTENUCCI, Daniel. Seasonal variation of resting metabolic rate in Ctenomys talarum (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae) ): Absence of environmental effects. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2014, vol.21, n.2, pp.241-250. ISSN 0327-9383.

Ctenomys is an endemic subterranean rodent from South America, and it represents an excellent model to evaluate the effect of different factors on energy metabolism, particularly, resting metabolic rate (RMR). Its subterranean micro-environment is characterized as thermically stable, but not convective, humid, hipercapnic and hypoxic. So the capacity to dissipate heat during the hot season is further reduced. Ctenomys talarum occupies coastal grasslands dunes in the southeast of Buenos Aires province; feeds on plants located near the borrow system entrances. Therefore, they are exposed to thermal variations on the surface. This study aims to determine how RMR varies during short, medium, and long term time periods dur­ing an annual cycle in relation to abiotic (rainfall, ambient temperature, captivity) and food availability. RMR did not vary between seasons or in a year cycle. The micro-environmental stability inside burrows, the seasonal changes in the thermal conductance and behavioural strategies destined to face thermal challenges, could be signalled as responsible for RMR stability.

Palabras clave : Ctenomys; Energetics; Metabolic rate.

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