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The energetics of a Malagasy rodent, Macrotarsomys ingens (Nesomyinae): a test of island and zoogeographical effects on metabolism

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Abstract

This study provides first insights into the energetics of the Nesomyinae, a subfamily of rodents endemic to Madagascar. The ancestral nesomyine colonized Madagascar from Africa ca. 30–15 mya at the onset of Oligocene global cooling. We tested the hypothesis that, contrary to what might be expected from Island Biogeography theory, post-colonization character displacement of thermoregulatory traits was constrained by phylogenetic inertia through climate adaptation. The study was conducted in the Parc National d’Ankarafantsika, Madagascar. We measured the basal metabolic rate (BMR) and body temperature (T b) patterns of naturally warm-acclimated, freshly captured adult long-tailed big-footed mice Macrotarsomys ingens (67.4 g). The mean ± SD BMR of M. ingens was 0.298 ± 0.032 Watts (n = 12), 31.7 % lower than that predicted by a phylogenetically independent allometric equation. Body mass was correlated with BMR. The lower critical limit of thermoneutrality (T lc) was 30.7 °C. The mean ± SD T b = 36.1 ± 0.8 °C (n = 12) compared well with the mean T b values for myomorph rodents from the Afrotropical zone, but was lower than those of the Neotropical and Palearctic zones. M. ingens became pathologically hypothermic when exposed to ambient temperatures lower than 18 °C. The soil temperature at depths of 250 mm and deeper did not decrease below 22 °C throughout the austral winter. The thermoregulatory data for M. ingens did not differ from those that characterize mainland Afrotropical rodents. However, BMR and T b were lower than those of Holarctic rodents. Thus, contrary to expectations of Island Biogeography theory that rapid character displacement often occurs in morphological and behavioural traits when mammals colonize islands, M. ingens displayed climate-related physiological traits indicative of phylogenetic inertia. Presumably the tropical conditions that prevailed on Madagascar at the time of colonisation differed very little from those of the African mainland, and hence there was no strong driving force for change. Unlike small tenrecs and lemurs that radiated on Madagascar prior to the Oligocene, traits associated with an insular existence, such as daily torpor and hibernation, were not evident in M. ingens.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financed by publication incentive grants from UKZN, and grants from the NRF, to BGL. KL was supported by a UKZN post-graduate bursary and a Gay Langmuir Foundation grant. Idea Wild is gratefully acknowledged for their donation of equipment. We are especially indebted to Danielle Levesque for support on numerous levels, especially as a translator and research assistant. We are also grateful to our research guide, Tosy, who, despite the language barrier made the field work a success. We are grateful to the Malagasy National Parks, especially the staff of Ankarafantsika; Rene Razafindrajery, Justin Rakotoarimanana, Jacqueline Razaiarimanana and Vanondahy Rafam’andrianjafy. We also thank ICTE/MICET, in particular, Benjamin Andriamihaja, as well as Olivia Andriambolalovasoa, University of Antananarivo, Nomakwezi Mzilikazi, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Cliff Dearden, and the staff at the Durrell breeding centre at Ankarafantsika.

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  1. School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa

    Kerileigh D. Lobban & Barry G. Lovegrove

  2. Département de Biologie Animale, Faculté des Sciences, Université d’Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar

    Daniel Rakotondravony

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  1. Kerileigh D. Lobban
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  2. Barry G. Lovegrove
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  3. Daniel Rakotondravony
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Correspondence to Barry G. Lovegrove.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier.

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Lobban, K.D., Lovegrove, B.G. & Rakotondravony, D. The energetics of a Malagasy rodent, Macrotarsomys ingens (Nesomyinae): a test of island and zoogeographical effects on metabolism. J Comp Physiol B 184, 1077–1089 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-014-0853-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-014-0853-9

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