Geiser Fritz, Holloway Joanne C, Körtner Gerhard
Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
J Comp Physiol B. 2007 Jul;177(5):495-501. doi: 10.1007/s00360-007-0147-6. Epub 2007 Feb 16.
Most studies on animal physiology and behaviour are conducted in captivity without verification that data are representative of free-ranging animals. We provide the first quantitative comparison of daily torpor, thermal biology and activity patterns, conducted on two groups of sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps, Marsupialia) exposed to similar thermal conditions, one in captivity and the other in the field. Our study shows that activity in captive gliders in an outdoor aviary is restricted to the night and largely unaffected by weather, whereas free-ranging gliders omit foraging on cold/wet nights and may also forage in the afternoon. Torpor occurrence in gliders was significantly lower in captivity (8.4% after food deprivation; 1.1% for all observations) than in the field (25.9%), mean torpor bout duration was shorter in captivity (6.9 h) than in the field (13.1 h), and mean body temperatures during torpor were higher in captivity (25.3 degrees C) than in the field (19.6 degrees C). Moreover, normothermic body temperature as a function of air temperature differed between captive and free-ranging gliders, with a >3 degrees C difference at low air temperatures. Our comparison shows that activity patterns, thermal physiology, use of torpor and patterns of torpor may differ substantially between the laboratory and field, and provides further evidence that functional and behavioural data on captive individuals may not necessarily be representative of those living in the wild.
大多数关于动物生理学和行为学的研究都是在圈养环境中进行的，并未验证所获数据是否能代表自由放养的动物。我们首次对两组糖袋鼯（Petaurus breviceps，有袋目）在相似热条件下的每日蛰伏、热生物学和活动模式进行了定量比较，一组在圈养环境中，另一组在野外环境中。我们的研究表明，室外鸟舍中圈养的糖袋鼯活动仅限于夜间，且基本不受天气影响，而自由放养的糖袋鼯在寒冷/潮湿的夜晚会停止觅食，也可能在下午觅食。圈养环境中糖袋鼯的蛰伏发生率（食物剥夺后为8.4%；所有观察结果为1.1%）显著低于野外环境（25.9%），圈养环境中平均蛰伏时长（平均6.9小时）短于野外环境（平均13.1小时），圈养环境中蛰伏期间的平均体温（25.3摄氏度）高于野外环境（19.6摄氏度）。此外，圈养和自由放养的糖袋鼯的常温体温随气温变化的情况不同，在低气温时相差超过3摄氏度。我们的比较表明，实验室环境和野外环境中的活动模式、热生理学、蛰伏的使用情况和蛰伏模式可能存在很大差异，并进一步证明圈养个体的功能和行为数据不一定能代表野生个体的数据。
