1. Evolutionary adaptation of a mammalian species to an environment severely depleted of iodide
- Author
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John Pablo Valladares, Angel E. Spotorno, John M. McArthur, Arnaldo Vilaxa, AK Sinha, Annette Duerr, Bastien D. Gomperts, Gertrudis Cabello, Richard Sullivan, M. R. Pickard, and Isabel Behncke
- Subjects
endocrine system ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Physiology ,Clinical Biochemistry ,Iodide ,Radioimmunoassay ,Thyroid Gland ,Thyrotropin ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Environment ,Biology ,Iodine ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,Mice ,Soil ,Physiology (medical) ,Internal medicine ,Follicular phase ,medicine ,Animals ,Chile ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Thyroid ,Water ,Organ Size ,medicine.disease ,Adaptation, Physiological ,Biological Evolution ,Iodine deficiency ,Rats ,Muridae ,Thyroxine ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Endocrinology ,chemistry ,Dietary Iodine ,Cretinism ,Hormone - Abstract
Lack of dietary iodine is associated with thyroid insufficiency and its dire consequences including cretinism, yet territories severely deficient in iodine are home to many species of wild animals. The premise of our work is that an adaptation must be in place in order to allow these animals to thrive. We collected phyllotine rodents of the genus Auliscomys from the Altiplanic region of North Chile, an area historically associated with goitre and other manifestations of iodine deficiency disorders. The iodide concentration in the stream water in this locality, at
- Published
- 2003