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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Behavior and Welfare
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1516112

Electrocardiographic (ECG) changes induced by temperature variations in newly hatched Aperema (Rhinoclemmys punctularia, Daudin, 1801)

Provisionally accepted
Deise De Lima Cardoso Deise De Lima Cardoso Brenda Stefany dos Sanros Braga Brenda Stefany dos Sanros Braga Daniella Bastos Daniella Bastos *Clarissa Araujo Da Paz Clarissa Araujo Da Paz Luciana Eiró-Quirino Luciana Eiró-Quirino Thaysa Reis Thaysa Reis Luana Vasconcelos de Souza Luana Vasconcelos de Souza Rayllan da Cunha Ferreira Rayllan da Cunha Ferreira Gabriela Brito Barbosa Gabriela Brito Barbosa Raíssa Vieira de Souza Raíssa Vieira de Souza Yris da Silva Deiga Yris da Silva Deiga Maria Klara Otake Hamoy Maria Klara Otake Hamoy Diva Guimarães Diva Guimarães Moisés Hamoy Moisés Hamoy
  • Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Aperema (Rhinoclemmys punctularia) is a South American semi-aquatic freshwater turtle characterized by a highly curved, dark brown to black carapace and is distributed across Central and South America. Climate change affects freshwater turtles in a number of ways, including temperature, hatchling sex, and survival. Therefore, we analyzed temperature variations in these turtles through electrocardiographic recordings, since studies on temperature variations in R. punctularia are limited.Electrocardiography (ECG) is a highly relevant diagnostic tool as it allows for precise assessments of cardiac events and is non-invasive. The development of non-invasive ECG measurement methods is crucial for evaluating and maintaining the health of chelonian individuals during veterinary treatment or experimental procedure. Our findings revealed that heart rate is temperature-dependent, showing that lower environmental temperatures result in decreased heart rates. Therefore, we demonstrated through the electrocardiographic patterns observed during the experiment that a reduction in the ambient temperature to which Rhinoclemmys punctularia are exposed can modulate the conductivity and automaticity of cardiac cells, subsequently leading to a decrease in heart rate.

    Keywords: Reptiles, Heart Rate, temperature, Freshwater turtle, Aperema

    Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 14 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 De Lima Cardoso, Braga, Bastos, Da Paz, Eiró-Quirino, Reis, de Souza, Ferreira, Barbosa, de Souza, Deiga, Hamoy, Guimarães and Hamoy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Daniella Bastos, Federal University of Pará, Belém, 66075-110, Pará, Brazil

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.