Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/04/2013 - 12:43
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Arctic Ground Squirrel Studies

Are arctic ground squirrels born knowing the circadian rhythm?

Wed, 07/10/2013 - 13:44

Alicia Gillean

Thanks for your question! I asked Jeanette Moore, one of the scientistson Team Squirrel to help me with this answer.
Here's what she says,
"I don't know the literature on this, but we do see an innate rhythm in
juveniles that we bring into the lab. Last year Fran and I caught 44
juvenile squirrels during the summer, brought them in and implanted body
temperature loggers. These squirrels then went into a cold chamber with
12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. They all had a consistent 24
hour cycle. If you go back even further to their birth, it would be
very cool to see if they have a rhythm upon entry into the world. If
you think of babies (human), they seem to have their own daily rhythm
that is NOT 24 hours which makes mom's sleep disrupted. I suspect the
area of the brain where rhythms are established have not matured at
birth and that initially babies do not have a 24 hour cycle. This is
something I have learned from my exposure to the brain. Many areas of
the brain take a long time to develop into maturity after birth! Now I
am interested and want to read up on post-partum cycles!"

Thu, 09/05/2013 - 10:06

Anonymous

Um i want to know what are Ground Squrrirles like