.... Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Chytridiomycosis Cutaneous water loss Dehydration Fungal pathogen Skin shedding Amphibian skin not only provides the first line of defence against infection, but also serves as a semipermeable surface across which osmotic, ionic and respiratory exchanges can occur...

.... Lipids of the stratum corneum (SC), the outer layer of the epidermis, create the barrier to water vapor diffusion, and thus control cutaneous water loss (CWL). An appreciation of the ability of birds to change CWL by altering lipids of the skin will be important to predict responses of birds to global...

....); these lipids were associated with cutaneous water loss (CWL). In this study, we collected adult and nestling house sparrows from Ohio and nestlings from Saudi Arabia, acclimated them to either high or low humidity, and measured their rates of CWL. We also measured CWL for natural populations of nestlings from...

... be crucial for the establishment of a competent permeability barrier. In this study we assessed the composition of covalently bound lipids of the avian SC and their relationship to cutaneous water loss (CWL) in two populations of house sparrows, one living in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and the other...

...Agustí Muñoz-Garcia; Jennifer Ro; Johnie C. Brown; Joseph B. Williams SUMMARY Because cutaneous water loss (CWL) represents half of total water loss in birds, selection to reduce CWL may be strong in desert birds. We previously found that CWL of house sparrows from a desert population was about...

... serves as a barrier to water vapor diffusion through the skin. We measured cutaneous water loss (CWL) in two populations of house sparrow Passer domesticus L., one living in a desert environment in Saudi Arabia, and another living in a mesic environment in Ohio, USA. We found that CWL rates at 30°C were...

... the integument of pioneering terrestrial animals, enabling them to reduce water loss through the skin. In desert environments, where ambient temperatures ( T a ) can reach 50°C, relative humidities are low and drinking water is scarce, integumentary modifications that reduce cutaneous water loss (CWL) could...

...Gilead Michaeli; Berry Pinshow SUMMARY We assessed respiratory and cutaneous water loss in trained tippler pigeons ( Columba livia ) both at rest and in free flight. In resting pigeons, exhaled air temperature T ex increased with ambient air temperature T a ( T ex =16.3+0.705 T a ) between 15°C...

... evaporative losses. In contrast to previous suggestions that cutaneous evaporation is an insignificant source of water loss in kangaroo rats ( Schmidt-Nielsen and Schmidt-Nielsen, 1950 ), our results clearly demonstrate that cutaneous water loss is the major avenue of evaporative water loss...