The Metabolic Response of the Bradypus Sloth to Temperature

The metabolic response of the Bradypus sloth to temperature Cliffe, R. N., Scantlebury, D., Kennedy, S. J., Avey-Arroyo, J., Mindich, D., & Wilson, R. (2018). The metabolic response of the Bradypus sloth to temperature. PeerJ, 6, [e5600]. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5600 Published in: PeerJ Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Queen's University Belfast - Research Portal: Link to publication record in Queen's University Belfast Research Portal Publisher rights Copyright 2018 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited. 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Oct. 2021 The metabolic response of the Bradypus sloth to temperature Rebecca Naomi Cliffe1,2,3, David Michael Scantlebury4, Sarah Jane Kennedy3, Judy Avey-Arroyo2, Daniel Mindich2 and Rory Paul Wilson1 1 Swansea Lab for Animal Movement, Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom 2 The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, Limon, Costa Rica 3 Research Center, The Sloth Conservation Foundation, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom 4 School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Global Food Security, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland ABSTRACT Poikilotherms and homeotherms have different, well-defined metabolic responses to ambient temperature (Ta), but both groups have high power costs at high temperatures. Sloths (Bradypus) are critically limited by rates of energy acquisition and it has previously been suggested that their unusual departure from homeothermy mitigates the associated costs. No studies, however, have examined how sloth body temperature and metabolic rate vary with Ta. Here we measured the oxygen consumption (VO2) of eight brown-throated sloths (B. variegatus) at variable Ta's and found that VO2 indeed varied in an unusual manner with what appeared to be a reversal of the standard homeotherm pattern. Sloth VO2 increased with Ta, peaking in a metabolic plateau (nominal `thermally-active zone' (TAZ)) before decreasing again at higher Ta values. We suggest that this pattern enables sloths to minimise energy expenditure over a wide range of conditions, which is likely to be crucial for survival in an animal that operates under severe energetic constraints. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of a mammal provisionally invoking metabolic depression in response to increasing Ta's, without entering into a state of torpor, aestivation or hibernation. Submitted 2 May 2018 Accepted 17 August 2018 Subjects Animal Behavior, Ecology Published 19 September 2018 Keywords Bradypus, Energetics, Arboreal folivore, Metabolic depression, Metabolic rate, Sloth, Corresponding author Temperature response Rebecca Naomi Cliffe, [email protected] Academic editor BACKGROUND Donald Kramer In order to survive, animals must remain in positive energy balance over their lifetime, with Additional Information and Declarations can be found on energy acquisition occurring via food, and energy expenditure occurring via movement page 10 (Nathan et al., 2008; Shepard et al., 2013), growth (including tissue regeneration) (Careau DOI 10.7717/peerj.5600 et al., 2013; Pontzer et al., 2014), reproduction (Gittleman & Thompson, 1988; Thometz et al., 2016 Haim & Borut, 1981 Silva, 2005 Copyright ), and physiological homeostasis ( ; ). Temperature 2018 Cliffe et al. regulation has been subject to particular interest within the scientific community because Distributed under variations in environmental temperature are clear stressors that can be measurable. Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 Ambient temperature (Ta) affects poikilotherms and homeotherms (Schmidt-Nielsen, 1997) in profoundly different ways. Temperature affects the rates of biochemical and OPEN ACCESS How to cite this article Cliffe et al. (2018), The metabolic response of the Bradypus sloth to temperature . PeerJ 6:e5600; DOI 10.7717/peerj.5600 enzymatic reactions (Daniel et al., 2010) and it is this thermodynamic effect that ties the performance of poikilotherms, which are unable to internally modulate their core body temperature (Tb) independently of their surrounds, to thermal fluctuations in the environment (Schulte, 2015). Instead, they utilise behavioural methods of thermoregulation with the thermal optimum considered to be the ambient (and body) temperature at which metabolic rate is highest and performance optimised (Boyles et al., 2011). Typically poikilotherm metabolic rate rises with Ta to a point where excessive heat causes system breakdown, eventually leading to death (Angilletta, 2009; Huey & Stevenson, 1979). By contrast, homeotherms usually use adaptive thermogenesis to maintain high, stenothermal, Tb's that are largely independent of their surroundings (Lowell & Spiegelman, 2000), maintaining physical performance at a range of Ta's (Pat, Stone & Johnston, 2005). This comes at an energetic cost though (Nagy, 2005), because at low Ta's, where the heat produced by metabolic processes during normal activity does not equal the heat lost (below the thermoneutral zone (TNZ)), animals have to increase their metabolic rate to keep warm (Haim & Borut, 1981). Above the TNZ, homeotherms have to increase metabolic rate to engage in processes that help eliminate excessive heat impinging from the environment (McNab, 2002). This results in the classic `U-shaped' metabolic rate versus temperature curve (Haim & Borut, 1981) with the expectation that homeotherms typically attempt to operate at temperatures within their TNZ in order to minimise energetic costs. When faced with unfavourable conditions or lack of resources(Geiser, 2004; Lovegrove & Génin, 2008; McKechnie & Mzilikazi, 2011) many mammals are capable of invoking a poikilothermic response by entering a state of dormancy such as daily torpor, aestivation or hibernation. During these dormant periods, metabolic rate and body temperature can be depressed for prolonged periods (Wilz & Heldmaier, 2000). Three-fingered sloths (Bradypus variegatus) are not known to enter such states of dormancy, yet are an enigma within the classic poikilotherm-homeotherm groupings. ◦ Most particularly, their Tb may fluctuate by up to 10 C over a 24 h period (Britton & Atkinson, 1938). Anecdotally, they are suggested to behave like reptiles by making behavioural and postural adjustments which are used to control rates of heat gain and loss (Britton & Atkinson, 1938; Huey, 1982; Kearney & Predavec, 2000; Montgomery & Sunquist, 1978). Indeed, there is speculation that this poikilothermic strategy might enable sloths to have the lowest metabolic rates of non-hibernating mammals, some 40–74% of the predicted value relative to body mass (Brody & Lardy, 1946; Geiser, 2004; Irving, Scholander & Grinnell, 1942; McNab, 1978; Nagy & Montgomery, 1980; Pauli et al., 2016). Quite how sloths might respond metabolically to fluctuations in Ta is unknown, in particular given their extraordinary variation in Tb. We hypothesised that, given the strong link between ambient and sloth body temperature (which has led to them being likened to ectotherms), an increase in temperature should, theoretically, result in an increase in metabolic rate. To test this idea we determined the resting metabolic rate (RMR) of eight adult sloths (B. variegatus) using indirect calorimetry ◦ across a range of Ta's (21–34 C) while simultaneously recording Tb and documenting postural adjustments. We detail how the sloth metabolic response to variation in Ta appears Cliﬀe et al. (2018), PeerJ, DOI 10.7717/peerj.5600 2/15 to be the reverse of that expected for a non-hibernating homeothermic mammal and speculate that this may serve to minimise energy expenditure over a range of environmental conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ethics statement This research was approved by the Swansea University Animal Welfare & Ethical Review Process Group (AWERP), and the Costa Rican government and associated departments (MINAE, SINAC, ACLAC) permit number: R-033-2015. All research was performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Animals and study site Eight adult B. variegatus sloths (four male, four female) were chosen for metabolic measurements (Table S1). Five of these were captive animals that were wild-born and maintained permanently at the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica (N09◦47056.4700W 082◦54047.2000). The other three sloths were wild-caught and obtained from the protected forested grounds of the Sloth Sanctuary. Wild sloths were caught by hand and were released in the location in which they had been captured following the completion of metabolic rate determination. All experiments were undertaken between 08:00 and 21:00 in the Sloth Sanctuary veterinary

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