DAILY ACTIVITY PATTERNS OF FREE-LIVING CURUROS (SPALACOPUS CYANUS)

Dynamic spatial overlap in a solitary subterranean rodent: the Anillaco tuco-tuco (Ctenomys sp.)

Despite striking diversity in mammalian social behavior, studies of social organization have often dichotomized species by identifying them as either solitary or social (i.e., group living). This tendency has been particularly pronounced for subterranean rodents, the majority of which have long been assumed to be solitary. As a result, variation in social organization has likely been underestimated for these animals, particularly for species in which patterns of space use suggest limited or temporally dynamic opportunities for interactions among conspecifics. Here, we characterize patterns of space use in a population of tuco-tucos (Ctenomys sp.) from Anillaco, La Rioja Province, Argentina. Although these animals have been the subject of extensive research regarding circadian patterns of activity, spatial and social relationships among free-living individuals have not been documented. Analyses of radiotelemetry data from 17 individuals monitored during the breeding season (December 2015) revealed that partial overlap of individual home ranges was common, occurring between male–female as well as female–female pairs of animals. Spatial relationships, however, were dynamic, with both home range sizes and overlap changing on a daily basis. Although members of the study population did not meet the criteria typically used to identify group living in subterranean species, they were not completely solitary. Instead, the animals displayed an intermediate form of social organization characterized by persistent partial overlap of the areas occupied by different adults. These data add to the growing comparative picture of social variation in Ctenomys and suggest that further studies of these animals should contribute to improved understanding of the factors underlying differences in mammalian social systems.

Facultative sociality in a subterranean rodent, the highland tuco-tuco (Ctenomys opimus)

Understanding why social relationships vary among conspecifics is central to studies of animal behaviour. For many species, patterns of space use provide important insights into social behaviour. To characterize the social organization of the highland tuco-tuco (Ctenomys opimus), we used visual observations and radiotelemetry to quantify spatial relationships among adults in a population at Laguna de los Pozuelos, Jujuy Province, Argentina. Specifically, we sought to confirm anecdotal reports that these subterranean rodents are social, meaning that adults share burrow systems and nest sites. Our data indicate that the animals live in spatially distinct groups, although the number of individuals per group varies markedly. Although these relationships were robust with regard to location (above vs. below ground) and type of data (visual vs. telemetry), some groups identified during the daytime fissioned during the night. We suggest that the population of C. opimus at Pozuelos is facultatively social, meaning that individuals display predictable, adaptive differences in social relationships with conspecifics. More generally, our findings add to the growing number of subterranean species of rodents recognized as social, thereby generating new opportunities for comparative studies of these animals aimed at assessing the causes and consequences of variation in social organization.

Spatial relationships among free-living cururos (Spalacopus cyanus) demonstrate burrow sharing and communal nesting

Spatial relationships among conspecifics can provide insights into numerous aspects of social behavior. Spatial data may be particularly important for characterizing the behavior of difficult-to-study species such as subterranean rodents, direct observations of which are challenging. To characterize the social organization of the cururo (Spalacopus cyanus), a subterranean species in the rodent family Octodontidae, we used radiotelemetry to quantify spatial relationships within populations of this species located in Parque Nacional Bosque Fray Jorge and Santuario de la Naturaleza Yerba Loca, Chile. Specifically, we sought to determine if adults in this diurnal species share burrows and subterranean nests, the two criteria typically used to identify subterranean rodents as social. Analyses of radio fixes collected during February–March 2003 revealed that cururos at both Fray Jorge and Yerba Loca shared nighttime nest sites; cluster analyses of these data identified multiple spatially distinct subsets of adults in each population. Overlap of minimum convex polygons constructed from radio fixes collected during daylight hours suggested burrow sharing by animals in both populations. Cluster analyses of overlap values revealed the same spatially distinct groups of individuals identified from analyses of nest sharing; in addition, these analyses revealed one cluster of animals in each population that was not evident from analyses of nighttime data. Collectively, these results confirm that cururos are social, with adults in both study populations sharing burrow systems and communal nests. Our findings add to the growing understanding of social organization in octodontid rodents and reveal a new system for comparative studies of the ecology and evolution of behavioral variation in burrow-dwelling mammals.

Energetics and thermal adaptation in semifossorial pine-voles Microtus lusitanicus and Microtus duodecimcostatus

Rodents colonising subterranean environments have developed several morphological, physiological and behaviour traits that promote the success of individuals in such demanding conditions. Resting metabolic rate, thermoregulation capacity and daily energy expenditure were analysed in two semi-fossorial pine-vole species Microtus lusitanicus and Microtus duodecimcostatus inhabiting distinct areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Individuals capture location varied in habitat and soil features, allowing the comparison of energetic parameters with ecological characteristics, that can help explain the use of the subterranean environment and dependence of the burrow system. Results showed that M. duodecimcostatus has lower mass independent resting metabolic rate when compared with M. lusitanicus, which may be a response to environmental features of their habitat, such as dryer soils and lower water availability. Thermal conductance increased with body mass and was dependent on the ambient temperature. No significant differences were observed in the daily energy expenditure, but water economy data demonstrated the influence of the water available in the habitat on the energetics of voles. These species may rely on behavioural adaptations and seasonal use of burrows to cope with thermal challenges of subterranean activity and soil constraints. We found strong evidence that M. lusitanicus is able to use torpor as a response to low ambient temperatures which is a new observation among Arvicolines.

The flexible clock: predictive and reactive homeostasis, energy balance and the circadian regulation of sleep–wake timing

The Darwinian fitness of mammals living in a rhythmic environment depends on endogenous daily (circadian) rhythms in behavior and physiology. Here, we discuss the mechanisms underlying the circadian regulation of physiology and behavior in mammals. We also review recent efforts to understand circadian flexibility, such as how the phase of activity and rest is altered depending on the encountered environment. We explain why shifting activity to the day is an adaptive strategy to cope with energetic challenges and show how this can reduce thermoregulatory costs. A framework is provided to make predictions about the optimal timing of activity and rest of non-model species for a wide range of habitats. This Review illustrates how the timing of daily rhythms is reciprocally linked to energy homeostasis, and it highlights the importance of this link in understanding daily rhythms in physiology and behavior.

Selective binocular vision loss in two subterranean caviomorph rodents: Spalacopus cyanus and Ctenomys talarum

To what extent can the mammalian visual system be shaped by visual behavior? Here we analyze the shape of the visual fields, the densities and distribution of cells in the retinal ganglion-cell layer and the organization of the visual projections in two species of facultative non-strictly subterranean rodents, Spalacopus cyanus and Ctenomys talarum, aiming to compare these traits with those of phylogenetically closely related species possessing contrasting diurnal/nocturnal visual habits. S. cyanus shows a definite zone of frontal binocular overlap and a corresponding area centralis, but a highly reduced amount of ipsilateral retinal projections. The situation in C. talarum is more extreme as it lacks of a fronto-ventral area of binocular superposition, has no recognizable area centralis and shows no ipsilateral retinal projections except to the suprachiasmatic nucleus. In both species, the extension of the monocular visual field and of the dorsal region of binocular overlap as well as the whole set of contralateral visual projections, appear well-developed. We conclude that these subterranean rodents exhibit, paradoxically, diurnal instead of nocturnal visual specializations, but at the same time suffer a specific regression of the anatomical substrate for stereopsis. We discuss these findings in light of the visual ecology of subterranean lifestyles.

Social and Environmental Influences on Daily Activity Pattern in Free-Living Subterranean Rodents

Predictable daily activity patterns have been detected repeatedly even in mammals living in stable environments, as is the case for subterranean rodents. Whereas studies on activity of these rodents under laboratory conditions almost exclusively have concerned themselves with the influence of light, many field studies have revealed signs of an association between the activity pattern and daily fluctuations of temperature under the ground. This would assume that behavioral thermoregulation is probably involved. The only exceptions to the relationship between temperature and activity are 2 eusocial mole-rats of the genus Fukomys (Bathyergidae, Rodentia), which indicates that activity patterns could be affected also by social cues. To better understand how social and environmental factors influence the activity pattern in a eusocial mole-rat, we monitored the outside-nest activity in another species of this genus, the Ansell’s mole-rat ( Fukomys anselli), which has a relatively small body mass, high conductance, and more superficially situated burrows. Its daily activity had 1 prominent peak (around 1400 h), and it was tightly correlated with the temperature measured at depth of foraging burrows. Since F. anselli has high thermoregulatory requirements to maintain stable body temperature below the lower critical temperature, we conclude that the observed pattern is probably the result of minimizing the cost of thermoregulation. There were no significant differences in the daily activity patterns of breeding males and females and nonbreeders. Members of the same family group tended to have more similar activity patterns, but consistent activity synchronization between individuals was not proven. From the comparison of available data on all subterranean rodents, we assume that social cues in communally nesting mole-rats may disrupt (mask) temperature-related daily activity rhythms but probably only if the additional cost of thermoregulation is not too high, as it likely is in the Ansell’s mole-rat.

In search of a temporal niche: social interactions

Circadian rhythms can be entrained to periodic cues in the environment including the solar day, food resources, and temperature. Work on a variety of organisms has suggested that social interactions within and between species may also influence circadian rhythmicity, but conceptual and technical difficulties relating to animal models, housing environments, rhythm assays, and experimental design have complicated mechanistic investigations in the laboratory. We review these issues and introduce the gregarious Nile grass rat, Arvicanthis niloticus, as a suitable model for research on this problem. Understanding social influences on temporal organization at this supra-organismal, community level is of considerable translational value, as its implications range from conservation biology to human health.

Lab and field experiments: are they the same animal?

To advance our understanding of biological processes we often plan our experiments based on published data. This can be confusing though, as data from experiments performed in a laboratory environment are sometimes different from, or completely opposite to, findings from similar experiments performed in the "real world". In this mini-review, we discuss instances where results from laboratory experiments differ as a result of laboratory housing conditions, and where they differ from results gathered in the field environment. Experiments involving endocrinology and behavior appear to be particularly susceptible to influence from the environment in which they are performed. As such, we have attempted to promote discussion of the influence of housing environment on the reproductive axis, circadian biology and behavior, immune function, stress biology, neuroplasticity and photoperiodism. For example, why should a rodent species be diurnal in one housing environment yet nocturnal in another? Are data that are gathered from experiments in the laboratory applicable to the field environment, and vice-versa? We hope not only to highlight the need for experiments in both lab and field when looking at complex biological systems, but also to promote frank discussion of discordant data. Perhaps, just as study of individual variation has been gaining momentum in recent years, data from variation between experimental arenas can provide us with novel lines of research.

A test of the thermal-stress and the cost-of-burrowing hypotheses among populations of the subterranean rodent Spalacopus cyanus

Subterranean mammals show lower than-allometrically expected-basal metabolic rates (BMR), and several competing hypotheses were suggested to explain how physical microenvironmental conditions and underground life affect subterranean mammalian energetics. Two of these are the thermal-stress and the cost-of-burrowing hypotheses. The thermal-stress hypothesis posits that a lower mass-independent BMR reduces overheating in burrows where convective and evaporative heat loss is low, whereas the cost-of-burrowing hypothesis states that a lower mass-independent BMR may compensate for the extremely high energy expenditure of digging during foraging activity. In this paper we tested both hypotheses at an intraspecific level. We compared seven populations of the subterranean rodent Spalacopus cyanus or cururo from different geographic localities with contrasting habitat conditions. We measured BMR and digging metabolic rate (DMR) through open flow respirometry. Our results support neither the thermal-stress nor the cost-of-burrowing hypothesis. Cururos from habitats with contrasting climatic and soil conditions exhibited similar BMR and DMR when measured under similar semi-natural conditions. It is possible that S. cyanus originated in Andean locations where it adapted to relatively hard soils. Later, when populations moved into coastal areas characterized by softer soils, they may have retained the original adaptation without further phenotypic changes.