Effect of tunnel inclination on digging energetics in the tuco-tuco, Ctenomys talarum (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) |
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Authors: | Facundo Luna C Daniel Antinuchi |
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Institution: | (1) Funes 3250, Mar del Plata, CC 1245 Buenos Aires, Argentina;(2) Laboratorio de Ecofisiología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 1245 Mar del Plata, Argentina;(3) Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Mar del Plata, Argentina |
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Abstract: | Burrows play an important role for many species, providing them with shelter and access to food resources. For subterranean
rodents, living underground imposes constraints on morphology and physiology. The convergence in burrow architecture among
subterranean rodents has been related to the energy demands imposed by the cost of constructing an entire system. The low
frequency of tunnels with downward angles steeper than 40° appears to be a common feature in burrow design. In the subterranean
habitat, movements through the soil are expensive and gravity can exert important restrictions on digging energetics when
individuals push out the soil removed in steeper digging angles. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of digging
angle on digging energetics in Ctenomys talarum. The mass of the removed soil and burrowing speed were similar while digging metabolic rate and net cost of transport were
higher in individuals digging in tunnels with angles >40° than in those digging tunnels with angles <40°. The cost of constructing
a burrow in the horizontal plane differed by 20% from others in which the natural representation of tunnels >40° was considered.
Even given that tunnels >40° represented only 6% of the total burrow length, burrow architecture appears to be constrained
by the high energetic cost of constructing in steeper angles. |
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Keywords: | Burrow Digging angle Digging energetics |
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