Weight and Body Temperature in Mammals

Morrison, Peter; Ryser, Fred A.

doi:10.1126/science.116.3009.231

Cited by 59 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…1) [39,44,45]. Mean normothermic T b of eutherian mammals lies between 36 and 38°C (range 30.5-40.7°C) [46], whereas marsupials and monotremes are generally considered to have lower T b s (mean 35.3°C, range 30.8-37.4°C) [46][47][48]. While some species, such as the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) [49] or the swamp rat (Rattus lutreolus; Fig.…”

Section: Daily Variability In Mammalian T Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling mammalian energetics: the heterothermy problem

Levesque

Nowack

Stawski

2016

Clim Chang Responses

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Global climate change is expected to have strong effects on the world's flora and fauna. As a result, there has been a recent increase in the number of meta-analyses and mechanistic models that attempt to predict potential responses of mammals to changing climates. Many models that seek to explain the effects of environmental temperatures on mammalian energetics and survival assume a constant body temperature. However, despite generally being regarded as strict homeotherms, mammals demonstrate a large degree of daily variability in body temperature, as well as the ability to reduce metabolic costs either by entering torpor, or by increasing body temperatures at high ambient temperatures. Often, changes in body temperature variability are unpredictable, and happen in response to immediate changes in resource abundance or temperature. In this review we provide an overview of variability and unpredictability found in body temperatures of extant mammals, identify potential blind spots in the current literature, and discuss options for incorporating variability into predictive mechanistic models.

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Section: Daily Variability In Mammalian T Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling mammalian energetics: the heterothermy problem

Levesque

Nowack

Stawski

2016

Clim Chang Responses

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“…(Compare Morrison andRyser, 1952, andIrving andKrog, 1954.) Also the basal heat production has been found to be essentially the same in all climates, inasmuch as most arctic, temperate and tropical mammals fit the mouse-to-elephant curve of Benedict (1938).…”

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confidence: 96%

Evolution of Climatic Adaptation in Homeotherms

1955

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“…Solving Eq. 1 with this value yields a body temperature of 38.4 AE 1.8°C for Mammuthus primigenius, an expected number based on their similarity to modern large mammals such as elephants (38).…”

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“…Samples of tooth enamel from a single tooth from a modern Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) and a single tooth from a modern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) were analyzed from six and four separate CO 2 extractions, respectively. The published calibration of the carbonate clumped-isotope thermometer for inorganic calcite predicts a Δ 47 value of 0.596‰ for calcite grown at 37°C (31), which is the average body temperature of almost all placental mammals (31,38). Analysis of rhinoceros and elephant tooth enamel bioapatite yielded Δ 47 values of 0.597 AE 0.006‰ (1 s.e.)…”

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confidence: 99%

Body temperatures of modern and extinct vertebrates from ¹³ C- ¹⁸ O bond abundances in bioapatite

Eagle

Schauble

Tripati

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

144

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The stable isotope compositions of biologically precipitated apatite in bone, teeth, and scales are widely used to obtain information on the diet, behavior, and physiology of extinct organisms and to reconstruct past climate. Here we report the application of a new type of geochemical measurement to bioapatite, a "clumpedisotope" paleothermometer, based on the thermodynamically driven preference for 13 C and 18 O to bond with each other within carbonate ions in the bioapatite crystal lattice. This effect is dependent on temperature but, unlike conventional stable isotope paleothermometers, is independent from the isotopic composition of water from which the mineral formed. We show that the abundance of 13 C-18 O bonds in the carbonate component of tooth bioapatite from modern specimens decreases with increasing body temperature of the animal, following a relationship between isotope "clumping" and temperature that is statistically indistinguishable from inorganic calcite. This result is in agreement with a theoretical model of isotopic ordering in carbonate ion groups in apatite and calcite. This thermometer constrains body temperatures of bioapatite-producing organisms with an accuracy of 1-2°C. Analyses of fossilized tooth enamel of both Pleistocene and Miocene age yielded temperatures within error of those derived from similar modern taxa. Clumped-isotope analysis of bioapatite represents a new approach in the study of the thermophysiology of extinct species, allowing the first direct measurement of their body temperatures. It will also open new avenues in the study of paleoclimate, as the measurement of clumped isotopes in phosphorites and fossils has the potential to reconstruct environmental temperatures.apatite | isotope | paleoclimate | thermophysiology | paleothermometry T he mechanisms by which animals regulate their body temperatures are among the most fundamental aspects of their biology. The acquisition of endothermy, the ability to maintain high and stable body temperatures through internal heat production, is a major physiological change that occurred at an unknown stage during the evolutionary transition to mammals and birds from their ancestors among the nonmammalian therapsids and nonavian dinosaurs, respectively (1). Approaches to understanding the physiology of extinct animals and the evolution of endothermy have largely focused on biophysical modeling, anatomical observations, growth rate analysis from bone histology, and behavioral studies such as estimating predator/prey ratios (1-7). The validity of each of these approaches is uncertain (for contrasting viewpoints on approaches to dinosaur thermoregulation see refs. 4 and 5).Modern endothermic mammals and ectotherms, such as alligators and crocodiles, generally have significant differences in average body temperatures. With rare exceptions, mammals have high and stable body temperatures around 36-38°C regardless of their environment, whereas the body temperatures of ectotherms are generally lower on average and often fluctuate depending o...

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Weight and Body Temperature in Mammals

Cited by 59 publications

References 3 publications

Modelling mammalian energetics: the heterothermy problem

Modelling mammalian energetics: the heterothermy problem

Evolution of Climatic Adaptation in Homeotherms

Body temperatures of modern and extinct vertebrates from ¹³ C- ¹⁸ O bond abundances in bioapatite

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Weight and Body Temperature in Mammals

Cited by 59 publications

References 3 publications

Modelling mammalian energetics: the heterothermy problem

Modelling mammalian energetics: the heterothermy problem

Evolution of Climatic Adaptation in Homeotherms

Body temperatures of modern and extinct vertebrates from 13 C- 18 O bond abundances in bioapatite

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Body temperatures of modern and extinct vertebrates from ¹³ C- ¹⁸ O bond abundances in bioapatite