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Nowack, J, Cooper, CE and Geiser, F (2016) Cool echidnas survive the fire. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283 (1828). ISSN 0962-8452
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Abstract
Fires have occurred throughout history, including those associated with the meteoroid impact at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K–Pg) boundary that eliminated many vertebrate species. To evaluate the recent hypothesis that the survival of the K–Pg fires by ancestral mammals was dependent on their ability to use energy-conserving torpor, we studied body temperature fluctuations and activity of an egg-laying mammal, the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), often considered to be a ‘living fossil’, before, during and after a prescribed burn. All but one study animal survived the fire in the prescribed burn area and echidnas remained inactive during the day(s) following the fire and substantially reduced body temperature during bouts of torpor. For weeks after the fire, all individuals remained in their original territories and compensated for changes in their habitat with a decrease in mean body temperature and activity. Our data suggest that heterothermy enables mammals to outlast the conditions during and after a fire by reducing energy expenditure, permitting periods of extended inactivity. Therefore, torpor facilitates survival in a fire-scorched landscape and consequently may have been of functional significance for mammalian survival at the K–Pg boundary.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Julia Nowack, Christine Elizabeth Cooper, Fritz Geiser. Cool echidnas survive the fire Proc. R. Soc. B 2016 283 20160382; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0382. Published 13 April 2016 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 06 Biological Sciences, 11 Medical And Health Sciences, 07 Agricultural And Veterinary Sciences |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history Q Science > QL Zoology |
| Divisions: | Natural Sciences & Psychology (closed 31 Aug 19) |
| Publisher: | The Royal Society |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Sep 2018 09:58 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Sep 2021 02:27 |
| DOI or ID number: | 10.1098/rspb.2016.0382 |
| URI: | https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/9296 |
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