Abstract
Many mammals use torpor throughout the year but the individual contributions of environmental variables to seasonal changes in torpor expression are often difficult to tease apart. In many mammals, torpor is most often used opportunistically in response to decreased ambient temperature (T a ) and food availability, but information on how seasonally changing photoperiod per se influences torpor patterns is scant. Therefore, we quantified patterns of torpor use in response to natural photoperiod in captive marsupial pygmy-possums held at near-constant T a with a stable food supply over a period of 19 months. Western pygmy-possums (Cercartetus concinnus) and eastern pygmy-possums (C. nanus) used spontaneous torpor in every month of the year; in total we measured >1100 individual torpor bouts. Torpor bout duration was >60 % longer in winter than in summer and increased with decreasing day length for both species. Interestingly, the duration of torpor appeared to be adjusted at both the beginning and end of bouts because the time of entry into and rewarming from torpor relative to sunrise and sunset, respectively, changed with season. We propose that this reflects a synchronisation of torpor timing with foraging periods in the wild, which would enable animals to maintain a high body mass year-round by maximising both energy savings via torpor and energy input via food consumption. Our study suggests that photoperiod makes a significant contribution to the seasonal change in torpor bout duration of small hibernating mammals that use torpor throughout the year.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Craig Willis for help trapping in Dorrigo. Rita Enke and Ray Dayman from the Department of the Environment provided Mallee Cliffs site access and trapping lines and Matthew Dowle assisted in the field. Nereda Christian, Daniella Rojas, Chris Wacker and Lisa Warnecke helped with colony maintenance. Lisa Warnecke also improved the manuscript with insightful comments. Julian Glos and Joachim Nopper provided statistical advice. Permits were provided by the Animal Ethics Committee of the University of New England and the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service. The study was funded by grants from the Australian Research Council (FG), as well as from the University of New England and the Australian Wildlife Society (JMT).
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Communicated by I. D. Hume.
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Turner, J.M., Geiser, F. The influence of natural photoperiod on seasonal torpor expression of two opportunistic marsupial hibernators. J Comp Physiol B 187, 375–383 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-016-1031-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-016-1031-z