Latitudinal patterns in rodent metabolic flexibility

Area of Science:

• Physiological ecology
• Zoology
• Climate change biology

Background:

• Macrophysiology studies physiological trait variation across large scales.
• The climatic variability hypothesis predicts increased plasticity at higher latitudes.
• Metabolic scope measures immediate metabolic flexibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between metabolic scope and geographic/climatic variables in rodents.
• To test the climatic variability hypothesis concerning metabolic flexibility.

Main Methods:

• Analyzed absolute metabolic scope during cold exposure for 48 rodent species.
• Utilized conventional and phylogenetic comparative analyses.
• Correlated metabolic scope with latitude and climatic variables.

Main Results:

• A significant positive correlation was found between metabolic scope and geographic latitude.
• Rodents at higher latitudes exhibited greater metabolic flexibility.
• Findings support the hypothesis of increasing physiological flexibility with latitude.

Conclusions:

• Metabolic flexibility in rodents increases with geographic latitude.
• This latitudinal trend in physiological flexibility may extend to other phenotypic traits.
• Macrophysiology provides insights into animal adaptation to diverse environments.