The relationship between the golden spiny mouse circadian system and its diurnal activity: An experimental field enclosures and laboratory study

Ofir Levy, Tamar Dayan, Noga Kronfeld-Schor*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

70 Scopus citations

Abstract

Examples of animals that switch activity times between nocturnality and diurnality in nature are relatively infrequent. Furthermore, the mechanism for switching activity time is not clear: does a complete inversion of the circadian system occur in conjunction with activity pattern? Are there switching centers downstream from the internal clock that interpret the clock differently? Or does the switch reflect a masking effect? Answering these key questions may shed light on the mechanisms regulating activity patterns and their evolution. The golden spiny mouse (Acomys russatus) can switch between nocturnal and diurnal activity. This study investigated the relationship between its internal circadian clock and its diurnal activity pattern observed in the field. The goal is to understand the mechanisms underlying species rhythm shifts in order to gain insight into the evolution of activity patterns. All golden spiny mice had opposite activity patterns in the field than those under controlled continuous dark conditions in the laboratory. Activity and body temperature patterns in the field were diurnal, while in the laboratory all individuals immediately showed a free-running rhythm starting with a nocturnal pattern. No phase transients were found toward the preferred nocturnal activity pattern, as would be expected in the case of true entrainment. Moreover, the fact that the free-running activity patterns began from the individuals' subjective night suggests that golden spiny mice are nocturnal and that their diurnality in their natural habitat in the field results from a change that is downstream to the internal clock or reflects a masking effect.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)599-613
Number of pages15
JournalChronobiology International
Volume24
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2007

Funding

FundersFunder number
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation2003048, 2005522
Israel Science Foundation720/01-4

    Keywords

    • Activity pattern
    • Circadian rhythms
    • Diurnality
    • Golden spiny mice
    • Masking

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