Drinking behaviors and water balance in marine vertebrates

Rash, Rebecca; Lillywhite, Harvey B.

doi:10.1007/s00227-019-3567-4

Cited by 21 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 154 publications

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“…Sources of water that contribute to homeostasis of body water in vertebrates include dietary water, metabolic water and free drinking water in the environment. Investigations of water balance have related largely to ionic and osmotic regulation of body fluids and excretory function, with less attention given to drinking behaviors and environmental sources of water ( Rash and Lillywhite, 2019 ). Animals living in deserts and marine environments are of particular interest because of the scarcity of free water and selective forces that favor the conservation of dietary and metabolic water.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like other vertebrates, snakes – including marine species – utilize, and may require, various sources of free water in their environment to remain in water balance ( Murphy and DeNardo, 2019 ; Rash and Lillywhite, 2019 ; Sandfoss and Lillywhite, 2019 ). Because of their elongated body form and occurrence in a broad range of habitats, snakes are especially well suited for investigations of how and when water is procured to replace losses and to supplement dietary and metabolic water that is acquired independently of drinking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thirst and drinking in North American watersnakes (Nerodia spp.)

Edwards

Sheehy

Fedler

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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We quantified drinking behavior in three species of North American watersnakes: Nerodia clarkii, which is a marine or brackish water amphibious species, and Nerodiafasciata and Nerodiataxispilota, both freshwater amphibious species. All three species have relatively small and similar thresholds of dehydration (TH, approximately −4% loss of body mass) that elicit thirst and drinking of fresh water. These species have higher thirst sensitivity than several species of hydrophiine and laticaudine sea snakes, which are characterized by much lower TH (greater dehydration, −9% to <−20%). Nerodia clarkii, which is often found in coastal oceanic water, refused to drink seawater, but drank fresh water when dehydrated. In separate trials involving dehydration of N. clarkii and N. fasciata that were concurrently fed fish at regular intervals, snakes eventually refused to eat at TH of approximately −12% of original body mass, but resumed eating after they were allowed to drink fresh water and rehydrate. The drinking behaviors of Nerodia corroborate previous data on the importance of fresh water for drinking, and they complement growing evidence that dietary water does not itself mitigate dehydration in snakes. These new data increase understanding of water relationships in the context of evolutionary transitions from land to sea, and they emphasize the importance of fresh water resources in the conservation of coastal and marine species of reptiles.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thirst and drinking in North American watersnakes (Nerodia spp.)

Edwards

Sheehy

Fedler

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Given the costs associated with osmoregulation in other marine taxa (e.g. fish, [13]), we need to consider this critical parameter if we are to accurately predict the consequences of climate change for marine biodiversity. ,c)) and the size of the geographical marine range in tetrapods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ocean poses many novel challenges [8], but one of the most general and significant is the high salt concentration. Sodium chloride is inevitably taken into the body across permeable surfaces [9] and during feeding and incidental drinking [10][11][12][13], and marine tetrapods must be able to concentrate and expel excess salt if they are to survive [9]. Reflecting that strong selective force, all three oceanic radiations have been accompanied by the evolution of specialized salt-excreting structures (kidneys in mammals, salt glands in birds and reptiles, [14,15]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Osmoregulatory ability predicts geographical range size in marine amniotes

et al. 2021

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Species that are distributed over wide geographical ranges are likely to encounter a greater diversity of environmental conditions than do narrowly distributed taxa, and thus we expect a correlation between size of geographical range and breadth of physiological tolerances to abiotic challenges. That correlation could arise either because higher physiological capacity enables range expansion, or because widely distributed taxa experience more intense (but spatially variable) selection on physiological tolerances. The invasion of oceanic habitats by amniotic vertebrates provides an ideal system with which to test the predicted correlation between range size and physiological tolerances, because all three lineages that have secondarily moved into marine habitats (mammals, birds, reptiles) exhibit morphological and physiological adaptations to excrete excess salt. Our analyses of data on 62 species (19 mammals, 18 birds, 24 reptiles) confirm that more-widely distributed taxa encounter habitats with a wider range of salinities, and that they have higher osmoregulatory ability as determined by sodium concentrations in fluids expelled from salt-excreting organs. This result remains highly significant even in models that incorporate additional explanatory variables such as metabolic mode, body size and dietary habits. Physiological data thus may help to predict potential range size and perhaps a species' vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance.

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“…[ 52 ] Dominant hydration strategies are also summarized. [ 36,53–55 ] Schematic illustrations are based on textual descriptions in the referenced publications. [ 2,3,6,51,52 ]…”

Section: Risk Of Dehydration Was a Source Of Strong Selection Pressurmentioning

confidence: 99%

The circle of Willis revisited: Forebrain dehydration sensing facilitated by the anterior communicating artery

et al. 2020

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We hypothesize that threat of dehydration provided selection pressure for the evolutionary emergence and persistence of the anterior communicating artery (ACoA – the inter‐arterial connection that completes the Circle of Willis) in early amniotes. The ACoA is a hemodynamically insignificant artery, but, as we argue in this paper, its privileged position outside the blood‐brain barrier gives it a crucial sensing function for the osmolarity of the blood against the background of the rest of the brain, which efficiently protects itself from dehydration. Till now, the questions of why the ACoA evolved, and what its physiological function is, have remained unsatisfactorily answered. The traditional view—that the ACoA serves as a collateral source of vascularization in case of arterial stenosis—is anthropocentric, and not in accordance with principles of natural selection that apply more generally. Diseases underlying arterial stenosis are associated with aging and the human lifestyle, so this cannot explain why the ACoA formed hundreds of millions of years ago and persisted in amniotes to this day. The peculiar hemodynamic properties of the ACoA could be selected traits that allowed for more efficient forebrain detection of dehydration and complex behavioral responses to water loss, a major advantage in the survival of early amniotes. This hypothesis also explains insufficient hydration often seen in elderly humans.

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Drinking behaviors and water balance in marine vertebrates

Cited by 21 publications

References 154 publications

Thirst and drinking in North American watersnakes (Nerodia spp.)

Thirst and drinking in North American watersnakes (Nerodia spp.)

Osmoregulatory ability predicts geographical range size in marine amniotes

The circle of Willis revisited: Forebrain dehydration sensing facilitated by the anterior communicating artery

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