Heterothermy in a Small Passerine: Eastern Yellow Robins Use Nocturnal Torpor in Winter Aharon-Rotman, Y, McEvoy, JF, Beckmann, Christa and Geiser, F 2021, Heterothermy in a Small Passerine: Eastern Yellow Robins Use Nocturnal Torpor in Winter, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 9, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.759726. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Heterothermy in a Small Passerine: Eastern Yellow Robins Use Nocturnal Torpor in Winter Author(s) Aharon-Rotman, Y McEvoy, JF Beckmann, Christa orcid.org/0000-0002-7904-7228 Geiser, F Journal name Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Volume number 9 Article ID 759726 Start page 1 End page 8 Total pages 8 Publisher Frontiers Media Place of publication Lausanne, Switzerland Publication date 2021-12-16 ISSN 2296-701X Keyword(s) torpor thermorgulation passerines metabolism climate change heterothermy geographical variation thermoregulation yellow robin Summary Torpor is a controlled reduction of metabolism and body temperature, and its appropriate use allows small birds to adapt to and survive challenging conditions. However, despite its great energy conservation potential, torpor use by passerine birds is understudied although they are small and comprise over half of extant bird species. Here, we first determined whether a free-living, small ∼20 g Australian passerine, the eastern yellow robin (Eopsaltria australis), expresses torpor by measuring skin temperature (Ts) as a proxy for body temperature. Second, we tested if skin temperature fluctuated in relation to ambient temperature (Ta). We found that the Ts of eastern yellow robins fluctuated during winter by 9.1 ± 3.9°C on average (average minimum Ts 30.1 ± 2.3°C), providing the first evidence of torpor expression in this species. Daily minimum Ts decreased with Ta, reducing the estimated metabolic rate by as much as 32%. We hope that our results will encourage further studies to expand our knowledge on the use of torpor in wild passerines. The implications of such studies are important because species with highly flexible energy requirements may have an advantage over strict homeotherms during the current increasing frequency of extreme and unpredictable weather events, driven by changing climate. Language eng DOI 10.3389/fevo.2021.759726 Field of Research 0602 Ecology 0603 Evolutionary Biology HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30171394 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment School of Life and Environmental Sciences Open Access Collection Related Links Link Description Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges   Connect to Elements publication management system 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. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Tue, 31 May 2022, 09:15:47 EST Tue, 31 May 2022, 16:00:27 EST Tue, 31 May 2022, 16:11:52 EST Mon, 25 Jul 2022, 12:14:19 EST Mon, 25 Jul 2022, 12:40:19 EST Mon, 25 Jul 2022, 12:42:59 EST Tue, 26 Jul 2022, 16:06:19 EST Wed, 27 Jul 2022, 15:35:08 EST Wed, 27 Jul 2022, 16:28:26 EST Wed, 27 Jul 2022, 16:46:21 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 5 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Tue, 31 May 2022, 09:15:47 EST