title: Metabolic rate and thermoregulation in two species of tuco-tuco, Ctenomys talarum and Ctenomys australis (Caviomorpha, Octodontidae).
abstract: 1. Resting metabolic rate and body temperature in function of ambient temperature were determined for two species of Ctenomys. 2. Oxygen consumption was lowest between 25 and 30 degrees C and was 0.946 +/- 0.030 and 0.968 +/- 0.022 in Ctenomys talarum (from Mar de Cobo and Necochea, respectively). Resting metabolic rate was 0.343 +/- 0.053 at 30 C in C. australis. 3. Mean rectal temperature at thermoneutrality was 36.1 +/- 0.13 and 37.3 +/- 0.17 in C. talarum and C. australis, respectively. 4. Limited thermoregulation occurred in C. talarum down to 20 degrees C but C. australis maintained body temperature down to 10 degrees C. 5. Both species of tuco-tucos became hyperthermic at ambient temperatures above thermoneutrality.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Busch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001481:Basal Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D012377:Rodentia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology