Thermoregulatory plasticity in free-ranging vervet monkeys, Chlorocebus pygerythrus

We used implanted miniature data loggers to obtain the first measurements of body temperature from a free-ranging anthropoid primate. Vervet monkeys ( Chlorocebus pygerythrus ) living in a highly seasonal, semi-arid environment maintained a lower mean 24-h body temperature in winter (34.6 ± 0.5 °C)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology, 2014-08, Vol.184 (6), p.799-809
Main Authors: Lubbe, Alwyn, Hetem, Robyn S., McFarland, Richard, Barrett, Louise, Henzi, Peter S., Mitchell, Duncan, Meyer, Leith C. R., Maloney, Shane K., Fuller, Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acclimatization - physiology
Animal Physiology
Animals
Arid environments
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Body temperature
Body Temperature - physiology
Body Temperature Regulation - physiology
Cercopithecinae - physiology
Circadian Rhythm - physiology
Climate change
Environmental stress
Food
Food availability
Hibernation
Human Physiology
Life Sciences
Linear Models
Metabolism
Monkeys & apes
Original Paper
Photoperiod
Physiology
Plasticity
Primates
Rain
Seasons
Semiarid environments
South Africa
Statistics, Nonparametric
Summer
Telemetry
Winter
Zoology
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Summary:We used implanted miniature data loggers to obtain the first measurements of body temperature from a free-ranging anthropoid primate. Vervet monkeys ( Chlorocebus pygerythrus ) living in a highly seasonal, semi-arid environment maintained a lower mean 24-h body temperature in winter (34.6 ± 0.5 °C) than in summer (36.2 ± 0.1 °C), and demonstrated increased heterothermy (as indexed by the 24-h amplitude of their body temperature rhythm) in response to proximal environmental stressors. The mean 24-h amplitude of the body temperature rhythm in summer (2.5 ± 0.1 °C) was lower than that in winter (3.2 ± 0.4 °C), with the highest amplitude for an individual monkey (5.6 °C) recorded in winter. The higher amplitude of the body temperature rhythm in winter was a consequence primarily of lower 24-h minimum body temperatures during the nocturnal phase, when monkeys were inactive. These low minimum body temperatures were associated with low black globe temperature (GLMM, β  = 0.046, P  
ISSN:0174-1578
1432-136X
DOI:10.1007/s00360-014-0835-y