Temperature Regulation in Mice of the Genus Scotinomys

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Abstract
Body temperature and metabolism were examined in Scotinomys teguina and S. xerampelinus during 2.5-hour exposures to ambient temperatures between 0 and 35° C Thennal conductance at temperatures below thermoneutrality averaged 0.34 cc O2/g/hr/°C in the smaller species, teguina, and 0.28 cc 02/g/hr/°C in xerampelinus. The difference in mean conductance between species is statistically significant. During exposure to ambient temperatures near 35° C, deaths occurred in xerampelinus but not in teguina. In the range 0 to 5°C, hypothermia was more common in teguina than in xerampelinus. These differences in thermophysiology between the species are correlated with altitudinal distribution; xerampelinus is restricted to cool or cold highlands and teguina is found at lower, warmer altitudes. Although both are montane, tropical species, they adhere to broad patterns of thermoregulatory physiology established in studies of North American peromyscines of the genera Peromyscus, Reithrodontomys, and Baiomys.