https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-01080-4
Regular Article
Rest and cold: different circadian responses to natural cold in five species of predatory mammals
Laboratory of Behavior and Behavioral Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Received:
25
November
2023
Accepted:
22
December
2023
Published online:
24
January
2024
Aiming to answer the question of how the rest-activity cycle and subcutaneous temperature change with a decrease in ambient temperature, we studied the following species of predatory mammals: domestic cats (Felis catus, n = 4), Far Eastern forest (Amur) cats (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura, n = 3), Eurasian lynxes (Lynx lynx, n = 3), sables (Martes zibellina, n = 3), and forest ferrets/furo (Mustela putorius, n = 3). All subjects were studied in spacious forested area enclosures. Subcutaneous temperatures in the interscapular region of the back as well as locomotor activity were recorded during 70 days using miniature data loggers in the autumn–winter period (air temperature fluctuated from 12 to − 20 °C). The results show different responses to natural cold: (1) a circadian rise in subcutaneous temperature which is not associated with an increase in locomotor activity (Amur cats); (2) a circadian rise in subcutaneous temperature which correlates with an increase in locomotor activity (lynxes, domestic cats); (3) rises in subcutaneous temperature which correlate with increases in locomotor activity, but are not circadian (sables, ferrets). The results demonstrate different strategies for adapting to natural cold in various predatory mammals in conditions of captivity.
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