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19 - Thermoregulation and energetics
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- By Jutta Schmid
- Edited by Joanna M. Setchell, University of Durham, Deborah J. Curtis, Oxford Brookes University
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- Book:
- Field and Laboratory Methods in Primatology
- Published online:
- 05 June 2012
- Print publication:
- 03 February 2011, pp 339-352
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
The study of how animals apportion time and energy (energetics) can provide much insight into physiology, ecology and evolution (Bartholomew, 1982; Geiser, 2004; Schmidt-Nielsen, 1997). Body temperature has a profound effect on the ability of animals to function effectively. Since all animals generate heat internally to some extent, energetics is closely linked to the problem of heat management and thermoregulation. For example, homeothermic or ‘warm-blooded’ animals (birds and mammals) must produce a great amount of heat in order to maintain a high and constant body temperature in cold as well as in warm surroundings (Schmidt-Nielsen, 1997). Moreover, natural environments can be extremely variable in their thermal attributes and consequently animals show behavioural and physiological adaptations that enable them to cope with these external gradients.
Over the past decade, there has been a tremendous increase in methodologies and techniques applicable to studies of energy expenditure and thermoregulation. This is particularly true for the study of daily energy requirements and body temperature rhythms of wild animals behaving normally in their natural habitats. In this contribution, I therefore review methods for the study of energetics and mechanisms of temperature regulation in primates (although these can generally be applied to almost all mammal species). I also briefly mention other possibilities for physiological measurements. All procedures described here require capture of the study animals, and some require invasive surgical intervention. They therefore raise ethical questions when dealing with wild animals and/or endangered species, and require governmental permits and authorization.
5 - Physiological adaptations to seasonality in nocturnal primates
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- By Jutta Schmid, Department of Experimental Ecology University of Ulm Albert Einstein Allee 11 D-89069 Ulm Germany, Peter M. Kappeler, Deutsches Primatenzentrum Kellnerweg 4 37077 Göttingen Germany
- Edited by Diane K. Brockman, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, Carel P. van Schaik, Universität Zürich
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- Book:
- Seasonality in Primates
- Published online:
- 10 August 2009
- Print publication:
- 17 November 2005, pp 129-156
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Summary
Introduction
The current geographic distribution of primates is confined largely to tropical and subtropical regions, where they have colonized a variety of habitats. The majority of primate taxa inhabit tropical forests with little annual fluctuation in environmental conditions. Some species, however, live in habitats characterized by pronounced seasonal fluctuations in climate and or resource availability. These primates tend to live at relatively high latitudes or altitudes, or both. Primates in such seasonal habitats provide an opportunity to identify behavioral and physiological adaptations that enable them to cope with fluctuating environmental conditions. Furthermore, it is interesting to ask whether and how schedules of growth and reproduction are adapted to maximize individual reproductive success under such seasonal conditions, because they may have to be traded off against maintenance requirements during the lean part of the year.
Primates living in seasonal environments exhibit a number of specific behavioral, ecological, and physiological adaptations. For example, during the climatically and or energetically most stressful time of year, they may reduce energy expenditure, e.g. by reducing overall activity, and many have scheduled periods of growth and infant weaning to coincide with seasons of relative abundance. Behavioral and physiological mechanisms of thermoregulation play especially important roles in maintaining homeostasis in seasonally stressed primates. These mechanisms are importantly influenced by circadian activity patterns because diurnal and nocturnal animals are exposed to fundamentally different constraints and options in this respect.
Selection of food and ranging behaviour in a sexually monomorphic folivorous lemur: Lepilemur ruficaudatus
- Jörg U. Ganzhorn, Thomas Pietsch, Joanna Fietz, Sabine Gross, Jutta Schmid, Nathalie Steiner
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- Journal:
- Journal of Zoology / Volume 263 / Issue 4 / August 2004
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 16 July 2004, pp. 393-399
- Print publication:
- August 2004
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Monomorphic lemurs of Madagascar allow us to investigate whether there are behavioural mechanisms that compensate for sex-specific differences in the costs of maintenance and reproduction in arboreal primates. Food selection of the pair-living Lepilemur ruficaudatus was studied in relation to food chemistry, and travel distances were measured as possible indications of differential investment in ranging activities (possibly related to the defence of territories and/or mating opportunities). Fourteen females and 14 males were radio-tracked for a total of 365 half-nights (from dusk to midnight or from midnight to dawn) at different times of the year (birth, lactation and weaning, pre-mating, post-mating). When based on monthly means, the two sexes did not differ in nightly travel distances. Food selection of females and males did not differ in relation to the chemical composition of leaves, but fruits consumed by females had lower fibre contents than fruits consumed by males. Even though other behavioural data are fragmentary, little evidence exists for behavioural mechanisms in L. ruficaudatus to compensate for the different energetic costs of females and males.
18 - Thermoregulation and energetics
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- By Jutta Schmid, University of Ulm
- Edited by Joanna M. Setchell, University of Surrey, Roehampton, Deborah J. Curtis, University of Surrey, Roehampton
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- Book:
- Field and Laboratory Methods in Primatology
- Published online:
- 05 June 2012
- Print publication:
- 18 September 2003, pp 271-281
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
The study of how animals apportion their time and energy (energetics) can provide much insight into physiology, ecology and evolution (Bartholomew, 1982; Schmidt-Nielsen, 1997). Body temperature has a profound effect on the ability of animals to function effectively. Since all animals generate heat internally to some extent, energetics is closely linked to the problem of heat management and thermoregulation. For example, homeothermic or ‘warm-blooded’ animals (birds and mammals) must produce a great amount of heat in order to maintain a high and constant body temperature in cold as well as in warm surroundings (Schmidt-Nielsen, 1997). Moreover, natural environments can be extremely variable in their thermal attributes and consequently animals show behavioural and physiological adaptations that enable them to cope with these external gradients.
In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in methodologies and techniques applicable to studies of energy expenditure and thermoregulation. This is particularly true for the study of daily energy requirements and body temperature rhythms of wild animals behaving normally in their natural habitats. In this contribution, I therefore review methods for the study of energetics and mechanisms of temperature regulation in primates (although these can generally be applied to almost all mammalian species). I also briefly mention other possibilities for physiological measurements. All procedures described here require capture of the study animals, and some require invasive surgical intervention. They therefore raise ethical questions when dealing with wild animals and/or endangered species, and require governmental permits and authorisation.