Daily and seasonal limits of time and temperature to activity of degus
Author
dc.contributor.author
Kenagy, G. J.
Author
dc.contributor.author
Nespolo, Roberto F.
Author
dc.contributor.author
Vásquez Salfate, Rodrigo
Author
dc.contributor.author
Bozinovic, Francisco
Admission date
dc.date.accessioned
2019-01-29T17:51:46Z
Available date
dc.date.available
2019-01-29T17:51:46Z
Publication date
dc.date.issued
2002
Cita de ítem
dc.identifier.citation
Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, Volumen 75, Issue 3, 2018, Pages 567-581
Identifier
dc.identifier.issn
0716078X
Identifier
dc.identifier.other
10.4067/S0716-078X2002000300008
Identifier
dc.identifier.uri
https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/163560
Abstract
dc.description.abstract
We present an analysis of behavioral flexibility in a day-active caviomorph rodent, the degu, Octodon degus, in response to temporal (daily and seasonal), spatial, and thermal heterogeneity of its environment. We quantified activity and foraging behavior in a population, together with thermal conditions, in an open habitat in the seasonally hot and arid matorral of central Chile. Summer activity was bimodal, with a gap of more than 8 h between the morning bout of 2.5 h of intensive foraging and the afternoon bout of 2 h. More than half of the 4.5 h of summer activity occurred in the shade of early morning or late afternoon when the sun was below the local skyline. Autumn and spring activity were also bimodal, but with greater proportions of activity under direct solar radiation, and with a shorter midday gap between the two major bouts. Winter activity was unimodal and all occurred under direct solar radiation. In summer, autumn, and spring the activity of degus was curtailed as our in