Circadian rhythms in blood pressure in free-ranging three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus).
(9/35)
Blood pressure (BP) profiles were monitored in nine free-ranging sloths (Bradypus variegatus) by coupling one common carotid artery to a BP telemetry transmitter. Animals moved freely in an isolated and temperature-controlled room (24 degrees C) with 12/12-h artificial light-dark cycles and behaviors were observed during resting, eating and moving. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures were sampled for 1 min every 15 min for 24 h. BP rhythm over 24 h was analyzed by the cosinor method and the mesor, amplitude, acrophase and percent rhythm were calculated. A total of 764 measurements were made in the light cycle and 721 in the dark cycle. Twenty-four-hour values (mean +/- SD) were obtained for SBP (121 +/- 22 mmHg), DBP (86 +/- 17 mmHg), mean BP (MBP, 98 +/- 18 mmHg) and heart rate (73 +/- 16 bpm). The SBP, DBP and MBP were significantly higher (unpaired Student t-test) during the light period (125 +/- 21, 88 +/- 15 and 100 +/- 17 mmHg, respectively) than during the dark period (120 +/- 21, 85 +/- 17 and 97 +/- 17 mmHg, respectively) and the acrophase occurred between 16:00 and 17:45 h. This circadian variation is similar to that observed in cats, dogs and marmosets. The BP decreased during "behavioral sleep" (MBP down from 110 +/- 19 to 90 +/- 19 mmHg at 21:00 to 8:00 h). Both feeding and moving induced an increase in MBP (96 +/- 17 to 119 +/- 17 mmHg at 17:00 h and 97 +/- 19 to 105 +/- 12 mmHg at 15:00 h, respectively). The results show that conscious sloths present biphasic circadian fluctuations in BP levels, which are higher during the light period and are mainly synchronized with feeding. (+info)
Nuclear gene sequences from a late pleistocene sloth coprolite.
(10/35)
The determination of nuclear DNA sequences from ancient remains would open many novel opportunities such as the resolution of phylogenies, the sexing of hominid and animal remains, and the characterization of genes involved in phenotypic traits. However, to date, single-copy nuclear DNA sequences from fossils have been determined only from bones and teeth of woolly mammoths preserved in the permafrost. Since the best preserved ancient nucleic acids tend to stem from cold environments, this has led to the assumption that nuclear DNA would be retrievable only from frozen remains. We have previously shown that Pleistocene coprolites stemming from the extinct Shasta sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis, Megatheriidae) contain mitochondrial (mt) DNA from the animal that produced them as well as chloroplast (cp) DNA from the ingested plants. Recent attempts to resolve the phylogeny of two families of extinct sloths by using strictly mitochondrial DNA has been inconclusive. We have prepared DNA extracts from a ground sloth coprolite from Gypsum Cave, Nevada, and quantitated the number of mtDNA copies for three different fragment lengths by using real-time PCR. We amplified one multicopy and three single-copy nuclear gene fragments and used the concatenated sequence to resolve the phylogeny. These results show that ancient single-copy nuclear DNA can be recovered from warm, arid climates. Thus, nuclear DNA preservation is not restricted to cold climates. (+info)
Description of Leishmania equatorensis sp. n (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), a new parasite infecting arboreal mammals in Ecuador.
(11/35)
Characterization is given of a new parasite, Leishmania equatorensis sp. n., which was isolated from the viscera of a sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) and a squirrel (Sciurus granatensis), captured in humid tropical forest on the Pacific Coast of Ecuador. Data based on biological and molecular criteria, as well as numerical zymotaxonomical analysis, indicate that this parasite is a new species of the L. braziliensis complex. L. equatorensis is clearly distinguishable from all other known species within this complex, using the following molecular criteria: reactivity patterns with specific monoclonal antibodies, isoenzyme electrophoresis, and restriction-endonuclease fragment patterns of kinetoplast DNA (k-DNA). (+info)
Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans.
(12/35)
BACKGROUND: Comparative genomic data among organisms allow the reconstruction of their phylogenies and evolutionary time scales. Molecular timings have been recently used to suggest that environmental global change have shaped the evolutionary history of diverse terrestrial organisms. Living xenarthrans (armadillos, anteaters and sloths) constitute an ideal model for studying the influence of past environmental changes on species diversification. Indeed, extant xenarthran species are relicts from an evolutionary radiation enhanced by their isolation in South America during the Tertiary era, a period for which major climate variations and tectonic events are relatively well documented. RESULTS: We applied a Bayesian approach to three nuclear genes in order to relax the molecular clock assumption while accounting for differences in evolutionary dynamics among genes and incorporating paleontological uncertainties. We obtained a molecular time scale for the evolution of extant xenarthrans and other placental mammals. Divergence time estimates provide substantial evidence for contemporaneous diversification events among independent xenarthran lineages. This correlated pattern of diversification might possibly relate to major environmental changes that occurred in South America during the Cenozoic. CONCLUSIONS: The observed synchronicity between planetary and biological events suggests that global change played a crucial role in shaping the evolutionary history of extant xenarthrans. Our findings open ways to test this hypothesis further in other South American mammalian endemics like hystricognath rodents, platyrrhine primates, and didelphid marsupials. (+info)
Cardiovascular responses to locomotor activity and feeding in unrestrained three-toed sloths, Bradypus variegatus.
(13/35)
Heart rate (HR) and systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP) and mean (MBP) blood pressure were recorded by biotelemetry in nine conscious unrestrained sloths for 1 min every 15 min over a 24-h period. The animals were allowed to freely move in an acoustically isolated and temperature-controlled (24 +/- 1 degree C) experimental room with light-dark cycle (12/12 h). Behavior was closely monitored through a unidirectional visor and classified as resting (sitting or suspended), feeding (chewing and swallowing embauba leaves, Cecropia adenops), or locomotor activity around the tree trunk or on the room floor. Locomotor activity caused statistically significant increases in SBP (+8%, from 121 +/- 22 to 131 +/- 18 mmHg), DBP (+7%, from 86 +/- 17 to 92 +/- 10 mmHg), MBP (+8%, from 97 +/- 19 to 105 +/- 12 mmHg), and HR (+14%, from 84 +/- 15 to 96 +/- 15 bpm) compared to resting values, indicating a possible major influence of the autonomic nervous system on the modulation of cardiac function during this behavior. During feeding, the increase in blood pressure was even higher (SBP +27%, from 119 +/- 21 to 151 +/- 21 mmHg; DBP +21%, from 85 +/- 16 to 103 +/- 15 mmHg; MBP +24%, from 96 +/- 17 to 119 +/- 17 mmHg), while HR remained at 14% (from 84 +/- 15 to 96 +/- 10 bpm) above resting values. The proportionally greater increase in blood pressure than in HR during feeding suggests an increase in peripheral vascular resistance as part of the overall response to this behavior. (+info)
Asynchronous extinction of late Quaternary sloths on continents and islands.
(14/35)
Whatever the cause, it is extraordinary that dozens of genera of large mammals became extinct during the late Quaternary throughout the Western Hemisphere, including 90% of the genera of the xenarthran suborder Phyllophaga (sloths). Radiocarbon dates directly on dung, bones, or other tissue of extinct sloths place their "last appearance" datum at approximately 11,000 radiocarbon years before present (yr BP) or slightly less in North America, approximately 10,500 yr BP in South America, and approximately 4,400 yr BP on West Indian islands. This asynchronous situation is not compatible with glacial-interglacial climate change forcing these extinctions, especially given the great elevational, latitudinal, and longitudinal variation of the sloth-bearing continental sites. Instead, the chronology of last appearance of extinct sloths, whether on continents or islands, more closely tracks the first arrival of people. (+info)
Electrocardiographic studies of the three-toed sloth, Bradypus variegatus.
(15/35)
Electrocardiograms (ECG) obtained with standard limb leads and augmented unipolar limb leads were recorded from 17 unanesthetized adult sloths. The animals were held in their habitual position in an experimental chair. We determined heart rate and rhythm from the R-R intervals, the amplitude and duration of each wave, and the duration of the segments and intervals of the ECG. The mean electrical axes of P and T waves and QRS complex were calculated on the basis of the amplitude of these waves in leads I, II, III, aV R, aV L, and aV F. The P wave appeared positive in most tracings with low amplitude in lead II, the QRS complex was generally negative in leads aV R, III and aV F, and no arrhythmias were observed. With a mean +/- SD heart rate for all recordings of 81 +/- 18 bpm, the duration of P and T waves, QRS complex, and PR, QT and RR intervals averaged 0.05 +/- 0.02, 0.15 +/- 0.05, 0.07 +/- 0.02, 0.13 +/- 0.02, 0.38 +/- 0.04, and 0.74 +/- 0.17 s, respectively. The ECG shape had a definite configuration on each lead. The angles of the mean +/- SD electrical axes for atrial and ventricular depolarization and ventricular repolarization in the horizontal plane were +34 +/- 68 masculine, -35 +/- 63 masculine, and -23 +/- 68 masculine, respectively. All electrical axes showed great variations and their mean values suggest that, when the sloth is in a seated position, the heart could be displaced by the diaphragm to a semi-horizontal position. (+info)
Fecal estradiol and progesterone metabolite levels in the three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus).
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The present study was carried out to assess the possibility of measuring fecal steroid hormone metabolites as a noninvasive technique for monitoring reproductive function in the three-toed sloth, Bradypus variegatus. Levels of the estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) metabolites were measured by radioimmunoassay in fecal samples collected over 12 weeks from 4 captive female B. variegatus sloths. The validation of the radioimmunoassay for evaluation of fecal steroid metabolites was carried out by collecting 10 blood samples on the same day as defecation. There was a significant direct correlation between the plasma and fecal E2 and P4 levels (P < 0.05, Pearson's test), thereby validating this noninvasive technique for the study of the estrous cycle in these animals. Ovulation was detected in two sloths (SL03 and SL04) whose E2 levels reached 2237.43 and 6713.26 pg/g wet feces weight, respectively, for over four weeks, followed by an increase in P4 metabolites reaching 33.54 and 3242.68 ng/g wet feces weight, respectively. Interestingly, SL04, which presented higher levels of E2 and P4 metabolites, later gave birth to a healthy baby sloth. The results obtained indicate that this is a reliable technique for recording gonadal steroid secretion and thereby reproduction in sloths. (+info)