Nomakwezi Mzilikazi Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Title Energetics of free-ranging small mammals, insights from the Afrotropics Abstract In mammals, daily torpor and hibernation have evolved to conserve energy when energy inputs from the environment are insufficient to meet maintenance requirements. The principal aim of this study was to investigate and quantify parameters that characterize torpor in a phylogenetically ancient African-endemic mammal (Macroscelidae: Elephantulus myurus) under free-ranging conditions to resolve whether daily torpor and hibernation were physiologically discrete responses. I measured body temperatures in three monthly cycles between May 2001 – May 2002 in 22 free-ranging E. myurus. The elephant shrews were capable of daily torpor throughout the year, with torpor most prevalent during winter and correlated with ambient temperature, photoperiod and invertebrate abundance. There was some marginal overlap with hibernation characteristics; a few torpor bouts were longer than 24 hrs in duration indicating that the animals were capable of opportunistically extending torpor bouts longer than 24 hours in response to unpredictable energetic shortfalls. I suggest that although torpor use was most prevalent during winter, summer torpor might also be important for energy conservation in this species during drought years. A return to normothermic body temperatures requires considerable energy expenditure, and this is perceived to be one of the major disadvantages of torpor. E. myurus offset the high cost of arousal from low body temperatures by using exogenous passive heating by coupling of the timing of arousal with ambient temperature cycles. Daily patterns of Tb in normothermic E. myurus suggested polyphasic Tb patterns that nevertheless indicated a rest phase coincident with the daytime. I suggest that the principal benefit of a flexible daily rhythm of Tb is that it facilitated torpor use during the nighttime and arousal by passive exogenous heating using ambient temperature cycles. I concluded that although laboratory studies are indispensable in the study of physiology, they do not always reveal the ecologically relevant patterns that field studies often do.   CV Academic qualifications Ph. D. (Zoology), University of KwaZulu – Natal, April 2005 M. Sc. (Zoology), University of Natal-Pietermaritzburg, April 2001 B.Sc. (Hons) (Zoology), University of Transkei, May 1999 B. Sc. (Majors: Zoology, Chemistry), University of Transkei, May 1999 Research interests I am interested in the physiological characteristics that influence the maintenance metabolism of small Afrotropical mammals that cannot migrate when confronted with unpredictable inputs of energy in time and space. I am particularly interested in how physiological traits constrain the flow of energy from the environment into living organisms and how that energy is ultimately translated into an organism’s fitness. Professional experience 2005 Lecturer, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2004 Lecturer and course co-ordinator, School of Education, Training and Development, University of KwaZulu – Natal 2000, 2001 Temporary lecturer, School of Botany and Zoology, University of Natal 2002 Teaching assistant, Ecology of Southern African Deserts, State University of New York, Syracuse Awards and grants 2006 Post doctoral fellowship, Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation, Germany 2003 South African Women in Science Fellowship Selected recent publications N. Mzilikazi & B.G. Lovegrove. 2005. Daily torpor during the active phase in free-ranging rock elephant shrews, Elephantulus myurus. Journal of Zoology (London): 267: 103 - 111. N. Mzilikazi & B.G. Lovegrove. 2004. Daily torpor in free-ranging rock elephant shrews, Elephantulus myurus: a year-long study. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 77: 285 – 296. N. Mzilikazi, B. G. Lovegrove & D. O. Ribble. 2002. Exogenous passive heating during arousal in free-ranging rock elephant shrews, Elephantulus myurus. Oecologia. 133: 307 – 314. Institution address Nomakwezi Mzilikazi Department of Zoology Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University P. O. Box 77 000 Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa mzilikaz@staff.uni-marburg.de