QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Summary Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cooper, C. E. Articles by Withers, P. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cooper, C. E. Articles by Withers, P. C.

Biophysical properties of the pelt of a diurnal marsupial, the numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), and its role in thermoregulation

C. E. Cooper^1,*, G. E. Walsberg² and P. C. Withers¹

^{1 1}Department of Zoology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
² Department of Biology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1501, USA

View larger version (93K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. (A) Anterior reddish-brown and (B) posterior black-and-white-striped sections of a numbat pelt.

View larger version (26K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Mean (± S.E.M.) total thermal resistance (rt), environmental resistance (re) and coat thermal resistance (rc) of three numbat pelts at wind speeds of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 m s-1. Open symbols are used for calculated rc and re at wind speeds of 0.25 m s-1, where re has probably been overestimated.

View larger version (15K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Solar heat gain (SHG) at the level of the skin (% irradiance; solid symbols) and solar absorption efficiency (SAE; % of non-reflected radiation that acts as SHG at the level of the skin; open symbols) for numbats (N=3; means ± S.E.M. of anterior and posterior sections of pelt) for both erect (circles) and depressed (triangles) pelts at varying wind speeds. There was a significant effect of wind speed (P<0.05) on both SHG and SAE.

View larger version (12K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. The relationship between solar heat gain (SHG) and coat thermal resistance (rc, of depressed fur; measured at a wind speed of 1 m s-1) of six ground squirrel species (circles; round-tailed, rock, two antelope and two golden-mantled ground squirrels; data from Walsberg, 1988a,b, 1990; Walsberg and Schmidt, 1989) and for the numbat (asterisk; N=3). The regression line for ground squirrels is y=–0.36x+64.3 (r2=0.97), with 95% confidence limits for predicting a further point.