Bozinovic F, Nespolo R F
Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, P. Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Int J Biometeorol. 1997 Jul;41(1):23-5. doi: 10.1007/s004840050049.
The leaf-eared mouse, Phyllotis darwini, is a nocturnal rodent inhabiting the semiarid and Mediterranean habitats of northern and central Chile. Previous observations suggested that in the field, individuals may change food intake according to seasonal changes in ambient temperature. We therefore anticipated that P. darwini should increase food intake in response to lower ambient temperature. As predicted, results of food trials and digestive measurements demonstrated that P. darwini increases food intake and assimilation at lower ambient temperatures but does not increase food mean retention time. At lower ambient temperatures, individuals increase digestive tract size thus improving body mass maintenance and perhaps survival during winter.
叶耳鼠（Phyllotis darwini）是一种夜行性啮齿动物，栖息于智利北部和中部的半干旱及地中海栖息地。先前的观察表明，在野外，个体可能会根据环境温度的季节性变化改变食物摄入量。因此，我们预计达尔文叶耳鼠会因环境温度降低而增加食物摄入量。正如预测的那样，食物试验和消化测量结果表明，达尔文叶耳鼠在较低环境温度下会增加食物摄入量和同化作用，但不会增加食物平均保留时间。在较低环境温度下，个体的消化道尺寸会增大，从而改善体重维持状况，并可能提高冬季的生存率。
