Chronobiology of South American Subterranean Rodents in Laboratory and Field

Project description

This project consists of the collaboration started in 2008 with Dr. Veronica Valentinuzzi, from the CRILAR center, located in La Rioja, Argentina. We aim to study the biological rhythms of subterranean rodents of the species Ctenomys aff knighti, known as tuco-tucos, endemic to South America. The collaboration has been carried out through the joint orientation of IBUSP students, since scientific initiation. The main motivation for studying subterranean animals in Chronobiology is that biological rhythms such as circadian (with periods of about 24 hours) and seasonal rhythms are synchronized, respectively, by daily environmental cycles light / dark and annual photoperiod. Little is known about the existence of daily rhythmicity and synchronization mechanisms in organisms living in extreme environments in which day and night do not exist, such as caves, underground tunnels and abyssal regions. Being the Argentine center CRilar located in the natural habitat of the animals, we developed a parallel field and laboratory approach, enabling a multidisciplinary investigation.