Extraordinary Variation in Circadian Free-Running Periods Observed in Spiders Appears to be Limited to the Superfamily Araneoidea
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Thomas Jones
Mentor Home Department
Biological Sciences
Short Abstract
Most organisms have approximately 24-hour circadian rhythms enabling them to anticipate their environment’s daily rhythmicity. We have found numerous spider species with free-running periods (FRP) that deviate greatly from 24 hours. FRP measures an organism’s circadian rhythm by measuring periodicity of activity under constant conditions. These extreme spider FRPs were found only in superfamily Araneoidea. Therefore, we investigated the FRPs of three non-araneoid spider species. Near 24-hour FRPs were found suggesting that extreme FRPs are confined to the Araneoidea clade.
Category
Science and Technology
Start Date
24-4-2023 9:15 AM
End Date
24-4-2023 9:30 AM
Location
D.P. Culp Center Room 219
Extraordinary Variation in Circadian Free-Running Periods Observed in Spiders Appears to be Limited to the Superfamily Araneoidea
D.P. Culp Center Room 219
Most organisms have approximately 24-hour circadian rhythms enabling them to anticipate their environment’s daily rhythmicity. We have found numerous spider species with free-running periods (FRP) that deviate greatly from 24 hours. FRP measures an organism’s circadian rhythm by measuring periodicity of activity under constant conditions. These extreme spider FRPs were found only in superfamily Araneoidea. Therefore, we investigated the FRPs of three non-araneoid spider species. Near 24-hour FRPs were found suggesting that extreme FRPs are confined to the Araneoidea clade.