The evolution of endothermy in Cenozoic mammals: a plesiomorphic‐apomorphic continuum

The evolution of endothermy in birds and mammals was one of the most important events in the evolution of the vertebrates. Past tests of hypotheses on the evolution of endothermy in mammals have relied largely on analyses of the relationship between basal and maximum metabolic rate, and artificial selection experiments. I argue that components of existing hypotheses, as well as new hypotheses, can be tested using an alternative macrophysiological modeling approach by examining the development of endothermy during the Cenozoic. Recent mammals display a 10°C range in body temperature which is sufficiently large to identify the selective forces that have driven the development of endothermy from a plesiomorphic (ancestral) Cretaceous or Jurassic condition. A model is presented (the Plesiomorphic‐Apomorphic Endothermy Model, PAE Model) which proposes that heterothermy, i.e. bouts of normothermy (constant body temperature) interspersed with adaptive heterothermy (e.g. daily torpor and/or hibernation), was the ancestral condition from which apomorphic (derived), rigid homeothermy evolved. All terrestrial mammal lineages are examined for existing data to test the model, as well as for missing data that could be used to test the model. With the exception of Scandentia and Dermoptera, about which little is known, all mammalian orders that include small‐sized mammals (<500 g), have species which are heterothermic and display characteristics of endothermy which fall somewhere along a plesiomorphic‐apomorphic continuum. Orders which do not have heterothermic representatives (Cetartiodactyla, Perissodactyla, Pholidota, and Lagomorpha) are comprised of medium‐ to large‐sized mammals that have either lost the capacity for heterothermy, or in which heterothermy has yet to be measured. Mammalian heterothermy seems to be plesiomorphic and probably evolved once in the mammalian lineage. Several categories of endothermy are identified (protoendothermy, plesioendothermy, apoendothermy, basoendothermy, mesoendothermy, supraendothermy, and reversed mesoendothermy) to describe the evolution of endothermy during the Cenozoic. The PAE Model should facilitate the testing of hypotheses using a range of macrophysiological methods (e.g. the comparative method and the reconstruction of ancestral states).     

Prehibernation diet and reproductive condition of female Anopheles messeae in Sweden

1. Blood and sugar feeding in the mosquito Anopheles messeae Falleroni were investigated near Uppsala, Sweden, from 1981 to 1985, with emphasis on prehibernation diet. 2. Fructose, indicating plant feeding, was present in females of all ovarian stages, from April to October, and contributed to fat body development in non-gonoactive females before hibernation. 3. An.messeae males and females (inseminated and uninseminated) were observed feeding on floral nectaries of the plants Achillea millefolium L. and Tanacetum vulgare L. at night during August. 4. Gonotrophic dissociation started in some females in July, and by the end of September all females were inseminated and nulliparous but non-gonoactive. 5. Animal sheds were used as diurnal resting sites of non-gonoactive, prehibernating female An.messeae. Among recently fed mosquitoes in that group, 85% were gut positive for fructose and 15% for blood. Most of them showed negative host tropism, indicating that bloodfeeding is not a prerequisite for hibernation. 6. Survival rates of bloodfed (48 +/- 31 days) and non-bloodfed (42 +/- 21 days) females, collected from a cattle shed in September and kept caged without food or water in a store house, were not significantly different. This indicates that bloodfeeding may occur facultatively before hibernation but does not affect longevity and survival. 7. If overwintering is possible for bloodfed An.messeae females, they would be more likely vectors of pathogens such as Batai virus.     

Diapause decision in the small tortoiseshell butterfly,Aglais urticae

Insects in temperate areas spend the inhospitable winter conditions in a resting stage known as diapause. In species that diapause in the larval or pupal stage, the decision whether to diapause or develop directly is customarily taken during the late instars, with long days (i.e., long light phases) and high temperatures promoting direct development. Among butterflies that overwinter as adults, data are rare and variable, but imply that the larval daylength conditions can affect the pathway decision. We studied the small tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae L. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Nymphalini), which is partially bivoltine from Central Scandinavia and southwards, and tested whether the pathway decision is taken in the larval or adult stage. We reared larvae under long‐day (L22:D2) or short‐day (L12:D12) photoperiods, and recorded the pathway taken by the eclosing adults by scoring their propensity to mate and produce eggs. We also tested whether the larval photoperiod influenced adult ability to diapause by assessing adult survival. The results clearly indicate that (1) there is no detectable effect of larval photoperiod treatment on the pathway decision taken by adults whether to enter diapause or to develop directly, (2) some individuals are obligately univoltine and insensitive to photoperiod during adulthood, whereas (3) other individuals can facultatively enter diapause or direct development, depending on the photoperiod experienced after adult eclosion.     

Cold truths: how winter drives responses of terrestrial organisms to climate change

Winter is a key driver of individual performance, community composition, and ecological interactions in terrestrial habitats. Although climate change research tends to focus on performance in the growing season, climate change is also modifying winter conditions rapidly. Changes to winter temperatures, the variability of winter conditions, and winter snow cover can interact to induce cold injury, alter energy and water balance, advance or retard phenology, and modify community interactions. Species vary in their susceptibility to these winter drivers, hampering efforts to predict biological responses to climate change. Existing frameworks for predicting the impacts of climate change do not incorporate the complexity of organismal responses to winter. Here, we synthesise organismal responses to winter climate change, and use this synthesis to build a framework to predict exposure and sensitivity to negative impacts. This framework can be used to estimate the vulnerability of species to winter climate change. We describe the importance of relationships between winter conditions and performance during the growing season in determining fitness, and demonstrate how summer and winter processes are linked. Incorporating winter into current models will require concerted effort from theoreticians and empiricists, and the expansion of current growing‐season studies to incorporate winter.     

瘦蛋白对摄食和能量平衡的调节及其在哺乳动物冬眠中的作用

白色脂肪合成和分泌的瘦蛋白(leptin)作用于下丘脑和外周的代谢产热器官,对摄食和能量平衡起调节作用。摄食和能量平衡的失调,如瘦蛋白抵抗,可以导致肥胖等一系列生理疾病。以体内贮存的脂肪为主要能源物质越冬的冬眠哺乳动物,体重的年周期波动幅度巨大,其摄食和能量平衡调节机制可能不同于一般的非冬眠物种,育肥阶段可能存在瘦蛋白抵抗机制。本文总结了瘦蛋白调节摄食和能量平衡的作用机制以及瘦蛋白对冬眠哺乳动物育肥和冬眠的影响,为进一步研究冬眠哺乳动物的能量平衡提供参考。     

Development of a noncontact and long-term respiration monitoring system using microwave radar for hibernating black bear

The aim of this study is to develop a prototype system for noncontact, noninvasive and unconstrained vital sign monitoring using microwave radar and to use the system to measure the respiratory rate of a Japanese black bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) during hibernation for ensuring the bear's safety. Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo planned to help the Japanese black bear (female, approximately 2 years of age) going into hibernation. The prototype system has a microwave Doppler radar antenna (10-GHz frequency, approximately 7 mW output power) for measuring motion of the body surface caused by respiratory activity without making contact with the body. Monitoring using this system was conducted from December 2006 to April 2007. As a result, from December 18, 2006, to March 17, 2007, similar behaviors reported by earlier studies were observed, such as sleeping with curled up posture and not eating, urinating or defecating. During this hibernation period and also around the time of hibernation, the prototype system continuously measured cyclic oscillations. The presence of cyclic vibrations at 8-sec intervals (about 7 bpm) was confirmed by the system before she entered hibernation on December 3, 2006. The respiratory rate gradually decreased, and during the hibernation period the respiratory rate was extremely low at approximately 2 bpm with almost no change. The results show that motion on the body surface caused by respiratory activity can be measured without touching the animal's body. Thus, the microwave radar employed here can be utilized as an aid in observing vital signs of animals. Zoo Biol 28:259–270, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

中国林蛙越冬死亡率的调查分析

中国林蛙（Rana chensinensis）越冬是林蛙人工养殖中的重要环节.在休眠期间林蛙死亡率高达31%,且以优良种蛙较多.利用自动控温水族箱模拟林蛙越冬,揭示这个阶段林蛙的生理机制,既具有理论意义,又可指导实践,减少种蛙的死亡.     

Pathophysiology of white-nose syndrome in bats: a mechanistic model linking wing damage to mortality

White-nose syndrome is devastating North American bat populations but we lack basic information on disease mechanisms. Altered blood physiology owing to epidermal invasion by the fungal pathogen Geomyces destructans (Gd) has been hypothesized as a cause of disrupted torpor patterns of affected hibernating bats, leading to mortality. Here, we present data on blood electrolyte concentration, haematology and acid–base balance of hibernating little brown bats, Myotis lucifugus, following experimental inoculation with Gd. Compared with controls, infected bats showed electrolyte depletion (i.e. lower plasma sodium), changes in haematology (i.e. increased haematocrit and decreased glucose) and disrupted acid–base balance (i.e. lower CO₂ partial pressure and bicarbonate). These findings indicate hypotonic dehydration, hypovolaemia and metabolic acidosis. We propose a mechanistic model linking tissue damage to altered homeostasis and morbidity/mortality.