AI Article Synopsis

  • Arboreal frogs use lipid secretions to coat their bodies, helping reduce water loss and subsequently adopt immobile postures that may appear torpid.
  • The study focuses on the arboreal monkey frog, Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis, which shows high skin resistance to water loss and low evaporation rates.
  • While the frogs' standard metabolic rates (SMR) vary with temperature and body mass, they do not significantly lower their metabolism during short-term dehydration, though some individuals may reduce oxygen consumption at more severe or prolonged water loss.

Article Abstract

Several species of arboreal frogs secrete lipids from cutaneous glands and wipe these secretions over the body surfaces to reduce evaporative water losses. Following wiping, frogs become immobile in water-conserving postures, and some have suggested they are torpid. Here we report wiping behaviors and the physiological correlates of immobile postures in the arboreal monkey frog Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis. Skin resistance to water loss was comparatively high, and rates of evaporation were as low as 4% of that from a free water surface. Standard rates of metabolism (SMR) varied from 89 microL O2 h(-1) at 18 degrees C to 316 microL O2 h(-1) at 34 degrees C and were sensitive to both temperature (T) and body mass (W; mL O2 h(-1) = 0.016W0.642 x 10(0.030T)). The mean SMR did not change significantly during four consecutive days of dehydration when animals lost 19%-34% of body mass. Therefore, it appears these frogs do not routinely depress metabolic rates following wiping. However, some individuals that lost higher percentages of body water exhibited trends of decreasing oxygen consumption, suggesting that suppression of metabolic rates might occur at greater levels of body water deficit or perhaps during a slower course of dehydration than imposed by our experiments (e.g., individuals that are secluded during periods of drought).

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/507659DOI Listing

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