Proximate factors in the control of sandbathing in the chinchilla (Chinchilla laniger).
Item
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Title
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Proximate factors in the control of sandbathing in the chinchilla (Chinchilla laniger).
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Identifier
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AAI9000670
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identifier
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9000670
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Creator
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Barber, Nigel.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Robert L. Thompson
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Date
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1989
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Psychobiology | Psychology, Physiological
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Abstract
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Sandbathing behavior of rodents adapted to arid environments is recognized as one component of a functional class known as care of the body surface (COBS) although its precise biological significance is poorly understood. COBS exhibits considerable motivational complexity, the most striking aspect of which is its reliance on other behavioral systems including temporal dependence (e.g., postprandial grooming) and motivational subordination (displacement activity, disinhibition). Nevertheless, causal models have emphasized the role of cutaneous stimuli.;When sandbathers are deprived of a suitable particulate substrate, their fur becomes matted and greasy in appearance. The number of sandbathing contacts with the substrate following termination of deprivation tends to increase with increasing length of the deprivation period. The lipid-regulation hypothesis explains this relationship by imputing a causal role to the cutaneous sensory inputs associated with greasy fur in relation to sandbathing.;Sixteen chinchillas served in each of four experiments (repeated measures) designed to test predictions derived from the lipid regulation hypothesis: (1) Sandbathing frequency will increase with deprivation of the opportunity to sandbathe. (The number of sandbathing rolls, together with three measures of attraction to sand, were measured during a 10-min test following zero, one, or five days of sand deprivation). (2) Lipid removal from fur will reduce sandbathing frequency. (Experimental subjects were tested at a sand-deprivation level of 25 days one day after shampooing). (3) Addition of lipid to the fur will increase sandbathing frequency. (Mineral oil was added to the fur one day before tests conducted at a sand-deprivation level of one day). (4) Sandbathing will reduce the lipid content of the fur. (Lipids were extracted from fur samples taken after 25 days of sand deprivation, after 24 hrs access to sand, and after shampooing, in that order).;All of these predictions were supported except the second. Since this constitutes the most critical test of the causal hypothesis, the lipid-regulation hypothesis was rejected as an explanation for deprivation effects on sandbathing. Intense peripheral stimulation such as that provided by experimental lipid treatment seems to evoke a quite general mammalian response of using the substrate as an aid in COBS. Endogenous pelage lipids probably do not produce this effect. A variety of sensory factors may affect sandbathing frequency but the effect of deprivation on sandbathing frequency is not easy to explain in terms of any of them. Sandbathing frequency appears to be importantly influenced by a central mechanism.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
