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Authors

  • José Geraldo Pereira da Cruz Universidade Regional de Blumenau - Departamento de Ciências Naturais

Abstract

Circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in Bothrops jararacussu (Serpentes: Viperidae). Many biochemical, physiological, and behavioral parameters exhibited by organisms show daily fluctuations, and most of these fluctuations persist when the organisms are maintained in constant environmental conditions, thus demonstrating that they are driven by an endogenous oscillator. Locomotor activity in reptiles is restricted temporally by the circadian system. The relative stability of the patterns and the amount of locomotor activity per cycle suggest that this behavior may be regulated by some conservative mechanism. In the present study, the behavior of Bothrops jararacussu was analyzed under animals housed in 24h light/dark cycle and dark/light cycle, to determine which aspects of this behavior were conserved. The Bothrops jararacussu displayed a nocturnal activity preference with monophasic activity patterns during the light/dark cycles, and this shows a free-running rhythm. The rhythm of locomotor activity disappears in the 24h dark/light cycle. Many parameters exhibited by organisms show daily fluctuations that may persist when the organisms are held in constant environmental conditions.

Author Biography

José Geraldo Pereira da Cruz, Universidade Regional de Blumenau - Departamento de Ciências Naturais

Possui Graduação em Ciências Biológicas pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas e Mestrado em Farmacologia pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Atualmente é professor de Fisiologia Humana na Universidade Regional de Blumenau.

Mais informações no Currículo Lattes.

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Published

2007-01-01

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 3 (2007)

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2007 José Geraldo Pereira da Cruz

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