NDLI: Physiological acclimation of a desert antelope, Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), to long-term food and water restriction

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Ostrowski, Stéphane Williams, Joseph B. Mésochina, Pascal Sauerwein, Helga
Copyright Year	2005
Abstract	Desert mammals often experience scarcity of drinking water and food for prolonged periods. In this study, the first long-term acclimation experiment in a non-domesticated desert-adapted ungulate, we investigated the mechanisms used by the Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx, to adjust its physiology to progressive food and water restriction over 5 months, an experimental regimen and time course chosen to mimic what it typically experiences between spring and late summer in the desert. At the end of the acclimation period, oryx consumed less than one and half of food and water of animals in the control group and lost 8.2±2.6% of their initial body mass. Experimental animals reduced their mass-specific resting metabolic rate (RMR) and total evaporative water loss (TEWL) by 16.2 and 25.7%, respectively, and maintained a digestive efficiency of about 70%. We found no support for the idea that reduced RMR in oryx correlated with a decreased thyroid hormone concentration in plasma. At the end of the 5 months acclimation, oryx continued to mobilize fatty acids to fuel metabolism, and did not use protein breakdown as a major source of gluconeogenesis. Oryx in the experimental group reduced their water intake by 70% and maintained constant plasma osmolality. They adjusted their water budget by reducing mass-specific TEWL, increasing urine osmolality and reducing urine volume by 40%, and excreting feces with <50% water content. Oryx have an unusually low TEWL compared with other arid-zone ungulates; both hydrated and water-deprived individuals have TEWL values, 51.7 and 39.3%, respectively, of allometric predictions for arid-zone ungulates.
Starting Page	191
Ending Page	201
Page Count	11
File Format	PDF
ISSN	01741578
Journal	Journal of Comparative Physiology B
Volume Number	176
Issue Number	3
e-ISSN	1432136X
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2005-11-09
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Antelope Arid environments Phenotypic plasticity Resting metabolic rate Total evaporative water loss Animal Physiology Zoology Human Physiology Biomedicine general Biochemistry
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Physiology Biochemistry Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Endocrinology

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