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A global heterothermic continuum in mammals Boyles, Justin G., Thompson, Amy B., McKechnie, Andrew E., Malan, Ezit, Humphries, Murray M. and Careau, Vincent 2013, A global heterothermic continuum in mammals, Global ecology and biogeography, vol. 22, no. 9, pp. 1029-1039. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title A global heterothermic continuum in mammals Author(s) Boyles, Justin G. Thompson, Amy B. McKechnie, Andrew E. Malan, Ezit Humphries, Murray M. Careau, Vincent Journal name Global ecology and biogeography Volume number 22 Issue number 9 Start page 1029 End page 1039 Total pages 11 Publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Place of publication Oxford, England Publication date 2013 ISSN 1466-822X 1466-8238 Keyword(s) heterothermy heterothermy index homeothermy mammals thermoregulation thermoregulatory scope Summary Aim: The ability of endotherms to physiologically regulate body temperature (Tb) is presumed to be important in the adaptive radiation of birds and mammals. Recently, attention has shifted towards determining the extent and energetic significance of Tb variation documented in an ever-expanding list of species. Thus, we provide the first global synthesis of ecological and evolutionary correlates of variation in mammalian Tb. Location: World-wide Methods: We conducted a phylogenetically informed analysis of Tb variation using two complementary metrics, namely Thermoregulatory Scope (TS) and Heterothermy Index (HI), that treat Tb variation as a continuous variable. We included morphological (e.g. body mass), ecological (e.g. food habits) and environmental (e.g. latitude) correlates in the analysis. Results: Among 560 mammal species included in the TS analysis, Tb relates most strongly to body mass (included in all models), season (relative parameter weight: 0.95), absolute latitude (0.80) and hoarding behavior (0.72), with small-bodied, high latitude and non-hoarding species expressing the most Tb variation. Small-bodied and high latitude species also express a greater range of thermoregulatory patterns than large-bodied and low latitude species. Results were generally similar in HI analysis, but in summer the extent of heterothermy decreases with latitude. Main conclusions: Mammalian heterothermy is related to evolutionary history, climate conditions constraining minimum Tb, resource conditions mediating energy supply for maintaining high Tb, and latitudinal variation in the nature of seasonality. Our analysis further shows that traditional classification of mammals as hibernators, daily heterotherms or homeotherms is clouded or possibly misleading. Language eng Field of Research 060309 Phylogeny and Comparative Analysis 060806 Animal Physiological Ecology 060604 Comparative Physiology Socio Economic Objective 960201 Atmospheric Composition (incl. Greenhouse Gas Inventory) HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2013, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30055429 Document type: Journal Article Collection: School of Life and Environmental Sciences Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Tue, 27 Aug 2013, 12:26:22 EST Thu, 29 Aug 2013, 09:19:48 EST Fri, 20 Sep 2013, 10:49:14 EST Wed, 22 Jan 2014, 10:23:52 EST Thu, 23 Jan 2014, 07:35:03 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 1 times in TR Web of Science Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 13 Abstract Views, 0 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Tue, 27 Aug 2013, 12:26:22 EST

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