✦ LIBER ✦
Patterns of body temperature variation and torpor in the numbat, Myrmecobius fasciatus (Marsupialia: Myrmecobiidae)
✍ Scribed by C.E Cooper; P.C Withers
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2004
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 264 KB
- Volume
- 29
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0306-4565
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✦ Synopsis
- Body temperature (T b ) radio-telemetric data for the diurnal numbat indicated a strong nychthemeral rhythm, being higher during the day. (2) Mean daily T b was 34.4 C, but was higher in spring and summer than winter. (3) All three numbats showed spontaneous, shallow daily torpor; minimum torpor T b was 19.1 C, and maximum torpor duration was 15.3 h. ( 4) Cooling and arousal rates were slow for numbats compared to other marsupials (1.6 and 7.1 C h À1 respectively). ( 5) Torpor was calculated to reduce the daily energy expenditure of a wild numbat in a burrow by 13-42% over 12.5 h.