title: Basal rate of metabolism and temperature regulation of two desert herbivorous octodontid rodents: Octomys mimax and Tympanoctomys barrerae.
abstract: We studied the energetics of two herbivorous desert rodents from South America. The two species had slightly lower basal metabolic rates, lower thermal conductances, and higher temperature differentials than those expected from their body mass. Mass-independent basal rates of metabolism were higher than those reported for seed-eating desert rodents from North America. Our observations support the hypothesis that desert rodents that eat foods with high water content have higher mass-independent metabolic rates than seed-eating desert rodents.
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bozinovic
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Biologia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de La Serena, Casilla 599, La Serena, Chile.
authors.forename: Luis C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Contreras
keywords: Desert rodents; Energetics; Food habits; Octomys mimax; Tympanoctomys barrerae