Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Basking and torpor in a rock-dwelling desert marsupial: survival strategies in a resource-poor environment

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Comparative Physiology B Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Australian deserts are characterized by unpredictability, low primary productivity, and high temperature fluctuations. Despite these adverse conditions the diversity of small insectivorous marsupials of the family Dasyuridae is surprisingly high. We quantified the thermal biology of the dasyurid Pseudantechinus madonnellensis (body mass ∼30 g) in the wild to gain some understanding of whether the success of dasyurids in the arid zone may be related to some extent to their use of energy conservation strategies. In winter, most free-ranging Pseudantechinus frequently (58.3% of 131 animal days) entered daily torpor after midnight (mean 0157 hours) in rock crevices when outside ambient temperatures (T a) were low. Most animals remained torpid until the next morning when they moved while still torpid from rock crevices to sun-exposed basking sites. We visually observed basking during rewarming from torpor (mean commencement at 0943 hours) at body temperatures (T b) as low as 19.3°C when radiant heat was high and T a was rising. Basking continued for the rest of the day. Torpor use was not strongly correlated with T a, but the temporal organization of daily torpor and activity were apparently linked to the thermal characteristics of basking sites. Our study suggests that by frequently employing daily torpor and basking and by appropriately coordinating their thermal biology with that of specific locations in their environment, Pseudantechinus can reduce daily energy expenditure and thus can live and reproduce in a challenging environment. It is likely that the success of other small dasyurids and perhaps many other small mammals living in deserts is linked to employment of torpor and basking for energy conservation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

MR:

Metabolic rate

T a :

Air temperature

T a bask :

Basking temperature

T a cave :

Cave temperature

T b :

Body temperature

References

  • Brice PH, Grigg GC, Beard LA, Donovan JA (2002) Patterns of activity and inactivity in echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) free-ranging in a hot dry climate: correlates with ambient temperature, time of day and season. Aust J Zool 50:461–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brigham RM, Woods CP, Lane JE, Fletcher QE, Geiser F (2006) Ecological correlates of torpor use among five caprimulgiform birds. In: Proceedings, 23rd international ornithological congress, Acta Zool Sin 52(Suppl):401–404

  • Buck CL, Barnes BM (1999) Temperatures of hibernacula and changes in body composition of arctic ground squirrels over winter. J Mammal 80:1264–1276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw D (2003) Vertebrate ecophysiology. Cambridge University Press, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown CR, Bernard RTF (1994) Thermal preference of Schreiber’s long-fingered (Miniopterus schreibersii) and Cape horseshoe (Rhinolophus capensis) bats. Comp Biochem Physiol 107A:439–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christian N, Geiser F (2007) To use or not to use torpor? Activity and body temperature as predictors. Naturwissenschaften 94:483–487

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chruszcz BJ, Barclay RMR (2002) Thermoregulatory ecology of a solitary bat, Myotis evotis, roosting in rock crevices. Funct Ecol 16:18–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper CE, McAllan BM, Geiser F (2005) Effect of torpor on the water economy of an arid-zone marsupial, the striped-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura). J Comp Physiol B 175:323–328

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dausmann KH, Glos J, Ganzhorn JU, Heldmaier G (2005) Hibernation in the tropics: lessons from a primate. J Comp Physiol B 175:147–155

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dickman CR (2003) Distributional ecology of dasyurid marsupials. In: Jones M, Dickman C, Archer M (eds) Predators with pouches: the biology of carnivorous marsupials. CSIRO publishers, Melbourne, pp 318–331

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickman CR, Haythornthwaite AS, McNaught GH, Mahon P, Tamayo B, Letnic M (2001) Population dynamics of three species of dasyurid marsupials in arid central Australia: a 10-year study. Wildl Res 28:493–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank CL (1994) Polyunsaturate content and diet selection by ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis). Ecology 75:458–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F (1988) Daily torpor and thermoregulation in Antechinus (Marsupialia): influence of body mass, season, development, reproduction, and sex. Oecologia 77:395–399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F (2003) Thermal biology and energetics of carnivorous marsupials. In: Jones M, Dickman C, Archer M (eds) Predators with pouches: the biology of carnivorous marsupials. CSIRO publishers, Melbourne, pp 234–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F (2004) Metabolic rate and body temperature reduction during hibernation and daily torpor. Annu Rev Physiol 66:239–274

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F, Baudinette RV (1987) Seasonality of torpor and thermoregulation in three dasyurid marsupials. J Comp Physiol B 157:335–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F, Masters P (1994) Torpor in relation to reproduction in the Mulgara, Dasycercus cristicauda (Dasyuridae: Marsupialia). J Therm Biol 19:33–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F, Drury RL (2003) Radiant heat affects thermoregulation and energy expenditure during rewarming from torpor. J Comp Physiol B 173:55–60

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F, Goodship N, Pavey CR (2002) Was basking important in the evolution of mammalian endothermy? Naturwissenschaften 89:412–414

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F, Holloway JC, Körtner G, Maddocks TA, Turbill C, Brigham RM (2000) Do patterns of torpor differ between free-ranging and captive mammals and birds? In: Heldmaier G, Klingenspor M (eds) Life in the cold: 11th international hibernation symposium. Springer, Berlin, pp 95–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Geiser F, Drury RL, Körtner G, Turbill C, Pavey CR, Brigham RM (2004) Passive rewarming from torpor in mammals and birds: energetic, ecological and evolutionary implications. In: Barnes BM, Carey HV (eds) Life in the cold: evolution, mechanisms, adaptation, and application. 12th international hibernation symposium. Biological Papers of the University of Alaska #27. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, pp 51–62

  • Gilfillan SL (2001) An ecological study of a population of Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) in central Australia. I. Invertebrate food supply, diet and reproductive strategy. Wildl Res 28:469–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutman R, Choshniak I, Kronfeld-Schor N (2006) Defending body mass during food restriction in Acomys russatus: a desert rodent that does not store food. Am J Physiol 290:R881–R891

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Körtner G, Geiser F (2000) Torpor and activity patterns in free-ranging sugar gliders Petaurus breviceps (Marsupialia). Oecologia 123:350–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovegrove BG, Körtner G, Geiser F (1999) The energetic costs of arousal from torpor in the marsupial Sminthopsis macroura: benefits of summer ambient temperature cycles. J Comp Physiol B 169:11–18

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • MacMillen RE, Nelson JE (1969) Bioenergetics and body size in dasyurid marsupials. Am J Physiol 217:1246–1251

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • MacMillen RE, Hinds D (1983) Water regulatory efficiency in heteromyid rodents: a model and its application. Ecology 64:152–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAllan BM (2003) Timing of reproduction in carnivorous marsupials. In: Jones M, Dickman C, Archer M (eds) Predators with pouches: the biology of carnivorous marsupials. CSIRO publishers, Melbourne, pp 147–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Menkhorst P, Knight F (2001) A field guide to the mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Mzilikazi N, Lovegrove BG, Ribble DO (2002) Exogenous passive heating during torpor arousal in free-ranging elephant shrews, Elephantulus myurus. Oecologia 133:307–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicol SC, Andersen NA (2007) Cooling and body temperature regulation of hibernating echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus). J Exp Biol 210:586–592

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ohmart RD, Lasiewski RC (1971) Roadrunners: energy conservation by hypothermia and absorption of sunlight. Science 172:67–69

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pavey CR, Goodship N, Geiser F (2003) Home range and spatial organization of the rock-dwelling carnivorous marsupial, Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis. Wildl Res 30:135–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt-Nielsen K (1979) Desert animals. Dover Publications, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Speakman JR, Thomas DW (2003) Physiological ecology and energetics of bats. In: Kunz TH, Fenton MB (eds) Bat ecology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 430–490

    Google Scholar 

  • Stafford Smith DM, Morton SR (1990) A framework for the ecology of arid Australia. J Arid Environ 18:255–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Trewin B (2006) Australian deserts, climatic aspects of Australia’s deserts. In: 2006 year book Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra

  • Turbill C, Law BS, Geiser F (2003) Summer torpor in a free-ranging bat from subtropical Australia. J Therm Biol 28:223–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang LCH (1989) Ecological, physiological, and biochemical aspects of torpor in mammals and birds. In: Wang LCH (ed) Animal adaptation to cold. Springer, Berlin, pp 361–401

    Google Scholar 

  • Warnecke L, Turner JM, Geiser F (2007) Torpor and basking in a small arid zone marsupial. Naturwissenschaften (in press)

  • Wilkinson GS, South SM (2002) Life history, ecology and longevity of bats. Ageing Cell 1:124–131

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Willis CKR, Brigham RM, Geiser F (2006) Deep, prolonged torpor by pregnant, free-ranging bats. Naturwissenschaften 93:80–83

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Withers PC (1992) Comparative animal physiology. Saunders, Fort Worth

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1984) Biostatistical analysis. 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Michael Barritt, Silke Beckedorf, Nicola Goodship, Karen May, and Parks and Wildlife Service of the Northern Territory staff based at Ormiston for assistance and logistic support during the study. Mark Brigham and Bronwyn McAllan provided constructive comments on the manuscript. The Animal Ethics Committee of the University of New England and the Parks and Wildlife Service of the Northern Territory provided permits for the study. The research was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council and The University of New England.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia

    Fritz Geiser

  2. Biodiversity Conservation, Department of Natural Resources, Environment and of the Arts, P.O. Box 1120, Alice Springs, NT, 0871, Australia

    Chris R. Pavey

Authors
  1. Fritz Geiser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chris R. Pavey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fritz Geiser.

Additional information

Communicated by I.D. Hume.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Geiser, F., Pavey, C.R. Basking and torpor in a rock-dwelling desert marsupial: survival strategies in a resource-poor environment. J Comp Physiol B 177, 885–892 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-007-0186-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-007-0186-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation