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Energetic expenditure during vocalization in pups of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

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Abstract

Theoretical signaling models predict that to be honest, begging vocalizations must be costly. To test this hypothesis, oxygen consumption was measured during resting and begging (i.e., vocalizing) activities in pups of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum by means of open-flow respirometry. No statistical differences in individual oxygen consumption between resting and calling pups ranging in age from day 2 to day 20 were found. Given these data, begging calls of C. talarum could not be considered as honest advertisements of offspring need, contrary to what suggested by the behavioral observations of the mother and pups during the nestling period.

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend their thanks to C. Bergstrom, M. Jurisevic, M. Blumberg and R. Kilner for helping with useful comments during the development of this work, and to D. Antinuchi, F. Luna and A. Cutrera for assistance during sampling. This work was supported by Fundación Antorchas (Grant No 14188-82). The experiments carried out in this work complied with current laws of Argentina.

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  1. Departamento de Biología, CC 1245, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3250, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Cristian Eric Schleich & Cristina Busch

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  1. Cristian Eric Schleich
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  2. Cristina Busch
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Correspondence to Cristian Eric Schleich.

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Schleich, C.E., Busch, C. Energetic expenditure during vocalization in pups of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum. Naturwissenschaften 91, 548–551 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-004-0565-1

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