Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) dust bathe in response to an increase in environmental temperature.
Rees, PA 2001, 'Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) dust bathe in response to an increase in environmental temperature.' , Journal of Thermal Biology, 27 (5) , pp. 353-358.Full text not available from this repository.
(1) A captive herd of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) exhibited dusting behaviour when the maximum daily temperature exceeded approximately 13oC, and dusting frequency increased directly with the environmental temperature. (2) Individual animals showed variation in dusting frequency but this was not related to body mass, suggesting that the function of dusting is not primarily thermoregulatory. (3) Synchronisation in the timing of dusting behaviour within the herd suggests that it may have a function in the maintenance of social cohesion. (4) The function of dusting behaviour could not be determined from the data presented, but it may be involved in skin care, protection from insects or other parasites, temperature control, protection from radiation or some combination of these.
|Themes:||Subjects / Themes > Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology|
Subjects / Themes > S Agriculture > SF Animal culture > SF408 Zoo animals
Subjects outside of the University Themes
|Schools:||Colleges and Schools > College of Science & Technology > School of the Built Environment|
Colleges and Schools > College of Science & Technology > School of Environment and Life Sciences > Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre
|Journal or Publication Title:||Journal of Thermal Biology|
|Depositing User:||H Kenna|
|Date Deposited:||09 Oct 2007 11:15|
|Last Modified:||20 Aug 2013 16:50|
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