Warm bodies, cool wings: regional heterothermy in flying bats
| Autor: | Richard L. Marsh, Andrea D. Rummel, Sharon M. Swartz |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
animal structures Physiology 030310 physiology Zoology 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences 03 medical and health sciences Chiroptera Heterothermy Animals Wings Animal 0303 health sciences Core (anatomy) Carollia perspicillata Wing biology Heat losses Rectal temperature biology.organism_classification Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) Air temperature Flight Animal Endotherm General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Body Temperature Regulation Muscle Contraction |
| Zdroj: | Biol Lett |
| ISSN: | 1744-957X |
| Popis: | Many endothermic animals experience variable limb temperatures, even as they tightly regulate core temperature. The limbs are often cooler than the core at rest, but because the large locomotor muscles of the limbs produce heat during exercise, they are thought to operate at or above core temperature during activity. Bats, small-bodied flying mammals with greatly elongated forelimbs, possess wings with large surfaces lacking any insulating fur. We hypothesized that during flight the relatively small muscles that move the elbow and wrist operate below core body temperature because of elevated heat loss. We measured muscle temperature continuously in the small fruit batCarollia perspicillatabefore and during wind tunnel flights, and discretely in diverse bats at rest in Belize. We found that bats maintained high rectal temperatures, but that there was a steep proximal-to-distal gradient in wing muscle temperature. Forearm muscles were 4–6°C cooler than rectal temperature at rest and approximately 12°C cooler during flights at an air temperature of 22°C. These findings invite further study into how bats and other endotherms maintain locomotor performance in variable environments, when some muscles may be operating at low temperatures that are expected to slow contractile properties. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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