Fukomys: The Creation Of Circadian Rhythms

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The circadian rhythm is a predictable pattern that a species follows during a twenty-four-hour cycle. Circadian rhythms of species are associated with the external cues, which can be factors like sunlight, moisture, and temperature. When mammals are presented with an environment that does not have many external cues, the expectations are that there would be a weak or no evidence of a circadian rhythm. Contrary to this expectation, subterranean rodents have shown evidence of circadian rhythm, even though the environment they live in has few external cues. Prior scientific research done by other scientists indicated that the rodents acted in a predictable manner due to heat regulation against the hot and cold. In this study, the authors looked at the Ansell’s mole-rat (Fukomys anselli) to better understand whether social or environmental cues were more important in the creation of the circadian rhythm. Through this experiment, the authors attempted to answer five questions: is there a noticeable circadian rhythm that Fukomys anselli follows, is the circadian rhythm emerging due to the temperature of the environment, is the circadian rhythm emerging due to social effects, are Fukomys …show more content…

The data collected showed that the activity of Fukomys anselli corresponded the closest to the temperature fluctuations at ten centimeters below the surface. The temperature of the environment showed more positive correlation to the circadian rhythm of Fukomys anselli compared to the other variables that include sex, reproduction viability, and social cues. Rather, the other variables excluding environment temperature only showed significant data when both sessions of the ninety-six-hour observation was combined. In the case of synchronization, synchronization showed once for both sessions one and

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