Body Temperature of Arctic Weasels: Higher or Lower than Other Mammals?

• Main Author: Casey,Timothy M
• Other Authors: ARCTIC INST OF NORTH AMERICA ARLINGTON VA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1979
• Subjects: Anatomy and Physiology; *BODY TEMPERATURE; HEAT TRANSFER; MAMMALS; MONITORING; COEFFICIENTS; ARCTIC REGIONS; ORGANS(ANATOMY); *Weasels; Arctic; Ermine
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA100381; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA100381

Core body temperatures of male ermines were continuously monitored using implanted temperature transmitters. Mean T sub b in the abdominal cavity for a 24 hour period were 38.4 and 38.8 C. Body temperature ranged from 37.9 to 40.6 in one individual and 37.5 to 39.7 C in the other. Body temperature of a male ermine during forced activity on a treadmill increased linearly with time and the rate of increase was related to metabolic rate. Small weasels have body temperatures slightly higher than those of other small mammals. Data from the present study are not consistent with body temperatures previously reported for small arctic weasels and the difference between data from our study and the other probably reflects a difference in technique of measurement. Data presented in this study and calculations based on heat transfer coefficients suggest that internal organ temperatures differ significantly from normal body temperatures within one minute after death. Prepared in cooperation with Rutgers - The State Univ., Newark, N.J. Dept. of Physiology.