关键词: 荒漠啮齿动物, 非颤抖性产热, 季节变化

Abstract: To reveal the role of non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) in thermoregulaion for small mammals’ in inland arid environment, a comparative study of seasonal variations of NST was conducted on four rodent species in Kubuqi desert of Inner Mongolia in 1997. The four species were northern three-toed jerboa (Dipus sagitta), midday gerbil (Meriones meridianus), desert hamster (Phodopus roborovskii) and striped hamster (Cricetelus barabensis). NST was induced by injecting mass-dependent dosage of norepinephrine (NE). The oxygen consumption was measured by using Kalabukho-Skorvstov closed circuit respirometer. The results showed that seasonal changes of NST was influenced significantly by ambient temperature. It was higher in autumn than in summer for the four species. The NST in autumn in desert hamster and striped hamster was also 14% and 35% higher than spring values, respectively. The typical desert species, desert hamster, showed a significant seasonal changes in NST and the lowest was found in summer. These results indicated that during the evolutionary process, the four species living in desert environment have developed perfect non-shivering thermogenesis mechanism to adapt the dramatic seasonal temperature fluctuations of inland arid environment.

Key words: Semi-desert rodents, Non-shivering thermogenesis (NST), Seasonal changes