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Thyroid hormone fluctuations indicate a thermoregulatory function in both a tropical (Alouatta palliata) and seasonally cold-habitat (Macaca fuscata) primate.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Thompson, CL; Powell, BL; Williams, SH; Hanya, G; Glander, KE; Vinyard, CJ
Published in: American journal of primatology
November 2017

Thyroid hormones boost animals' basal metabolic rate and represent an important thermoregulatory pathway for mammals that face cold temperatures. Whereas the cold thermal pressures experienced by primates in seasonal habitats at high latitudes and elevations are often apparent, tropical habitats also display distinct wet and dry seasons with modest changes in thermal environment. We assessed seasonal and temperature-related changes in thyroid hormone levels for two primate species in disparate thermal environments, tropical mantled howlers (Alouatta palliata), and seasonally cold-habitat Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). We collected urine and feces from animals and used ELISA to quantify levels of the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (fT3 ). For both species, fT3 levels were significantly higher during the cooler season (wet/winter), consistent with a thermoregulatory role. Likewise, both species displayed greater temperature deficits (i.e., the degree to which animals warm their body temperature relative to ambient) during the cooler season, indicating greater thermoregulatory pressures during this time. Independently of season, Japanese macaques displayed increasing fT3 levels with decreasing recently experienced maximum temperatures, but no relationship between fT3 and recently experienced minimum temperatures. Howlers increased fT3 levels as recently experienced minimum temperatures decreased, although demonstrated the opposite relationship with maximum temperatures. This may reflect natural thermal variation in howlers' habitat: wet seasons had cooler minimum and mean temperatures than the dry season, but similar maximum temperatures. Overall, our findings support the hypothesis that both tropical howlers and seasonally cold-habitat Japanese macaques utilize thyroid hormones as a mechanism to boost metabolism in response to thermoregulatory pressures. This implies that cool thermal pressures faced by tropical primates are sufficient to invoke an energetically costly and relatively longer-term thermoregulatory pathway. The well-established relationship between thyroid hormones and energetics suggests that the seasonal hormonal changes we observed could influence many commonly studied behaviors including food choice, range use, and activity patterns.

Duke Scholars

Published In

American journal of primatology

DOI

EISSN

1098-2345

ISSN

0275-2565

Publication Date

November 2017

Volume

79

Issue

11

Related Subject Headings

  • Thyroid Hormones
  • Temperature
  • Species Specificity
  • Seasons
  • Macaca
  • Body Temperature Regulation
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Basal Metabolism
  • Animals
  • Alouatta
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Thompson, C. L., Powell, B. L., Williams, S. H., Hanya, G., Glander, K. E., & Vinyard, C. J. (2017). Thyroid hormone fluctuations indicate a thermoregulatory function in both a tropical (Alouatta palliata) and seasonally cold-habitat (Macaca fuscata) primate. American Journal of Primatology, 79(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22714
Thompson, Cynthia L., Brianna L. Powell, Susan H. Williams, Goro Hanya, Kenneth E. Glander, and Christopher J. Vinyard. “Thyroid hormone fluctuations indicate a thermoregulatory function in both a tropical (Alouatta palliata) and seasonally cold-habitat (Macaca fuscata) primate.American Journal of Primatology 79, no. 11 (November 2017). https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22714.
Thompson CL, Powell BL, Williams SH, Hanya G, Glander KE, Vinyard CJ. Thyroid hormone fluctuations indicate a thermoregulatory function in both a tropical (Alouatta palliata) and seasonally cold-habitat (Macaca fuscata) primate. American journal of primatology. 2017 Nov;79(11).
Thompson, Cynthia L., et al. “Thyroid hormone fluctuations indicate a thermoregulatory function in both a tropical (Alouatta palliata) and seasonally cold-habitat (Macaca fuscata) primate.American Journal of Primatology, vol. 79, no. 11, Nov. 2017. Epmc, doi:10.1002/ajp.22714.
Thompson CL, Powell BL, Williams SH, Hanya G, Glander KE, Vinyard CJ. Thyroid hormone fluctuations indicate a thermoregulatory function in both a tropical (Alouatta palliata) and seasonally cold-habitat (Macaca fuscata) primate. American journal of primatology. 2017 Nov;79(11).
Journal cover image

Published In

American journal of primatology

DOI

EISSN

1098-2345

ISSN

0275-2565

Publication Date

November 2017

Volume

79

Issue

11

Related Subject Headings

  • Thyroid Hormones
  • Temperature
  • Species Specificity
  • Seasons
  • Macaca
  • Body Temperature Regulation
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Basal Metabolism
  • Animals
  • Alouatta