Diurnal Fluctuations in Rectal Temperature of Pigeons during the Hot Dry Season of the Sahel Savannah Region
Keywords:
Diurnal fluctuations, rectal temperature, pigeons, hot dry seasonAbstract
Experiments were performed on 10 adult pigeons with the aim of determining their diurnal temperature fluctuations during the hot dry season. The rectal temperature (RT) was recorded with a standard clinical thermometer every hour from 06:00 to 19:00 hours. The RT increased from 40.9o C + 0.1o C at 6:00 hour to a peak value of 41.8o C + 0.2o C at 12:00 hour, thereafter the value began to decline until it reached 40.0o C +0.1o C at 19:00 hour. The RT rose concurrently with increase in ambient temperature. The overall mean RT obtained between the pigeons was 40.9 oC + 0.0o C. The overall diurnal fluctuation in the rectal temperature of the pigeons was 1.5 oC + 0.2o C. There was no positive correlation between the minimum and maximum RT values obtained from individual animals. The correlation between minimum and maximum RT by hour was also not significant. The high diurnal range of 1.5 o C + 0.2o C suggests that the hot dry season was thermally stressful to the pigeon during the hot dry season
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