Development of thermoregulatory ability during ontogeny in the White Stork Ciconia ciconia

[EN]: The development of thermoregulation abilities in White Stork Ciconia ciconia nestlings was examined. Our results showed that body mass, and not age, was the best predictor for thermoregulatory ability despite what was found in passerines. White Stork nestlings did not develop their thermoregul...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Tortosa, Francisco S., Castro, Francisca
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2003
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/281984
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/281984
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ciconia ciconia
Thermoregulation
Nestling growth
Ontogeny
Crecimiento de pollos
Ontogenia
Descripción
Sumario:[EN]: The development of thermoregulation abilities in White Stork Ciconia ciconia nestlings was examined. Our results showed that body mass, and not age, was the best predictor for thermoregulatory ability despite what was found in passerines. White Stork nestlings did not develop their thermoregulatory abilities abruptly since their capacity to keep their body temperature developed gradually. When nestlings reached 1,700 g they have just finished to growth at their maximum rate (inflexion point in the growth curve) and they were able to keep their body temperature above 39.5ºC either in the nest or individually isolated at ambient temperature. The homeothermy index (HI) showed a negative correlation with growth rate (GR). Results suggests that White Stork nestlings invest little in thermoregulation before finishing their faster growth period, which is in accordance with the energy allocation hypothesis.