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Variation in the daily rhythm of body temperature of free-living Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx): does water limitation drive heterothermy?

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Abstract

Heterothermy, a variability in body temperature beyond the limits of homeothermy, has been advanced as a key adaptation of Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) to their arid-zone life. We measured body temperature using implanted data loggers, for a 1-year period, in five oryx free-living in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. As predicted for adaptive heterothermy, during hot months compared to cooler months, not only were maximum daily body temperatures higher (41.1 ± 0.3 vs. 39.7 ± 0.1°C, P = 0.0002) but minimum daily body temperatures also were lower (36.1 ± 0.3 vs. 36.8 ± 0.2°C, P = 0.04), resulting in a larger daily amplitude of the body temperature rhythm (5.0 ± 0.5 vs. 2.9 ± 0.2°C, P = 0.0007), while mean daily body temperature rose by only 0.4°C. The maximum daily amplitude of the body temperature rhythm reached 7.7°C for two of our oryx during the hot-dry period, the largest amplitude ever recorded for a large mammal. Body temperature variability was influenced not only by ambient temperature but also water availability, with oryx displaying larger daily amplitudes of the body temperature rhythm during warm-dry months compared to warm-wet months (3.6 ± 0.6 vs. 2.3 ± 0.3°C, P = 0.005), even though ambient temperatures were the same. Free-living Arabian oryx therefore employ heterothermy greater than that recorded in any other large mammal, but water limitation, rather than high ambient temperature, seems to be the primary driver of this heterothermy.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in particular the director His Royal Highness Prince Saud Al Faisal, the current secretary-general, HH prince Bander Bin Saud, and the secretary-general at the time the study was conducted, Professor AH Abuzinada, for supporting the research. From the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC), we are grateful to Dr Saud Anagariyah for his support in capturing the oryx and the current director, Ahmad Al Bouq. In addition, we thank the Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area rangers for monitoring the animals, and the mammal keepers at NWRC for their help with animal handling and assistance during surgery. This research was funded by the National Research Foundation, South Africa, the University of the Witwatersrand Medical Faculty Research Endowment Fund and START/PACOM African PhD fellowship awarded to RS Hetem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Medical School, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa

    Robyn Sheila Hetem, Willem Maartin Strauss, Linda Gayle Fick, Shane Kevin Maloney, Leith Carl Rodney Meyer, Andrea Fuller & Duncan Mitchell

  2. National Wildlife Research Center, National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development, PO Box 1086, Taif, Saudi Arabia

    Willem Maartin Strauss & Mohammed Shobrak

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida, 1709, South Africa

    Willem Maartin Strauss

  4. Physiology: Biomedical, Biomolecular, and Chemical Science, University of Western Australia, Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Shane Kevin Maloney

  5. Biology Department, Science College, Taif University, PO Box 888, Taif, Saudi Arabia

    Mohammed Shobrak

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  1. Robyn Sheila Hetem
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Correspondence to Robyn Sheila Hetem.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier.

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Hetem, R.S., Strauss, W.M., Fick, L.G. et al. Variation in the daily rhythm of body temperature of free-living Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx): does water limitation drive heterothermy?. J Comp Physiol B 180, 1111–1119 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-010-0480-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-010-0480-z

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