Survival value of suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in four wild sciurid rodents.

Laboratory and field data relevant to the survival value of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) pacemaker are presented for 4 related North American squirrel species that evolved in habitats with markedly different environmental conditions. Laboratory studies used free-running activity rhythms under constant conditions as the signature of an endogenous pacemaker. Field studies documented the circadian ecology of the 4 species; survival of intact controls was compared, when possible, with an SCN-lesioned group of free-living animals or with wild-caught animals in a laboratory facility that simulated natural conditions.

A circadian pacemaker in free-living chipmunks: essential for survival?

The importance of circadian timing was evaluated for 18 months from late-April 1997 through October 1998 in a high-density population of free-living eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus, at a 4-ha forest site in the Allegheny Mountains. Included in the radiocollared field group were 30 chipmunks with supra-chiasmatic nucleus-targeted lesions, 24 surgical controls, and 20 intact controls. An additional 17 chipmunks were used in a laboratory study as lesion-calibration controls to correlate degree of circadian arrhythmicity with extent of supra-chiasmatic nucleus deletion.

Relationship of circadian temperature and activity rhythms in two rodent species.

Despite the large number of publications concerning circadian body temperature in rodents, relatively little is known about phase relationships of the body temperature cycle relative to daily locomotor rhythms. Phase angle differences between core body temperature and locomotor activity were determined by a group of overlapping methods for 14 hamsters and 11 chipmunks under constant light (LL) and entrained (LD) photo schedules. The study compared the onset of the body temperature cycle with three separate components of daily locomotor activity: the onset of wheel running, the onset of total activity in a standard wheel cage, and the onset of total activity in a restricted cage, respectively.

Behavior of SCN-lesioned chipmunks in natural habitat: a pilot study.

The necessity of a circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), for survival was evaluated in a population of approximately 65 wild eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus. The research involved over 3000 h of field-work between May 1995 and October 1997 on a study site at Mountain Lake Biological Station, Virginia. The 28 chipmunks randomly designated as project animals included 10 SCN-lesioned chipmunks, 5 surgical controls (sham-lesioned), and 13 intact controls.

Circadian performance of suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN)-lesioned antelope ground squirrels in a desert enclosure.

Circadian activity parameters of 53 white-tailed antelope ground squirrels, Ammospermophilus leucurus, were measured to determine the role of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) pacemaker in their health and survival. Wheel-running activity was monitored in the laboratory with 44 individuals to document the presence of free-running circadian rhythms and ability to entrain to light-dark cycles. Twenty-two individuals were returned to the desert site of origin, including 12 intact control animals and 10 animals whose circadian timing had been disrupted by SCN-lesioning.