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dc.contributor.authorCooper, Christine
dc.contributor.authorWithers, Philip
dc.date.accessioned2018-02-19T07:59:54Z
dc.date.available2018-02-19T07:59:54Z
dc.date.created2018-02-19T07:13:32Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.identifier.citationCooper, C. and Withers, P. 2017. Thermoregulatory role of insensible evaporative water loss constancy in a heterothermic marsupial. Biology Letters. 13: 20170537.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/65834
dc.identifier.doi10.1098/rsbl.2017.0537
dc.description.abstract

© 2017 The Author(s). 'Insensible' evaporative water loss of mammals has been traditionally viewed as a passive process, but recent studies suggest that insensible water loss is under regulatory control, although the physiological role of this control is unclear. We test the hypothesis that regulation of insensible water loss has a thermoregulatory function by quantifying for the first time evaporative water loss control, along with metabolic rate and body temperature, of a heterothermic mammal during normothermia and torpor. Evaporative water loss was independent of ambient relative humidity at ambient temperatures of 20 and 30°C, but not at 25°C or during torpor at 20°C. Evaporative water loss per water vapour pressure deficit had a positive linear relationship with relative humidity at ambient temperatures of 20 and 30°C, but not at 25°C or during torpor at 20 or 25°C. These findings suggest that insensible water loss deviates from a physical model only during thermoregulation, providing support for the hypothesis that regulation of insensible evaporative water loss has a thermoregulatory role.

dc.publisherRoyal Society Publishing
dc.titleThermoregulatory role of insensible evaporative water loss constancy in a heterothermic marsupial
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume13
dcterms.source.number11
dcterms.source.issn1744-9561
dcterms.source.titleBiology Letters
curtin.departmentSchool of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS)
curtin.accessStatusOpen access


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