Ontogeny of thermoregulation in the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus campbelli)

Newkirk, Kerry D.; Silverman, David A.; Wynne‐Edwards, Katherine E.

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(94)00220-y

Cited by 34 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Characteristic for this group (which includes Syr-ian hamsters) is that the newborns are very poorly developed, in thermoregulatory, as well as in other, respects. Thermoregulation and brown adipose tissue recruitment occur simultaneously during the second week after birth, but not before (60,190,357,572,758,777); until then, the pups behave as poikilotherms, i.e., they are unable to maintain a higher temperature than that of the surroundings. Although there is very good correlation between the acquisition of nonshivering thermogenesis and the recruitment of brown adipose tissue, this is not a strict demonstration that the nonshivering thermogenesis observed is entirely brown fat derived, but this is very likely.…”

Section: Immature Newborns Recruit Brown Adipose Tissue With a Delaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Brown Adipose Tissue: Function and Physiological Significance

Cannon

Nedergaard

2004

Physiological Reviews

5,487

126

5,981

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The function of brown adipose tissue is to transfer energy from food into heat; physiologically, both the heat produced and the resulting decrease in metabolic efficiency can be of significance. Both the acute activity of the tissue, i.e., the heat production, and the recruitment process in the tissue (that results in a higher thermogenic capacity) are under the control of norepinephrine released from sympathetic nerves. In thermoregulatory thermogenesis, brown adipose tissue is essential for classical nonshivering thermogenesis (this phenomenon does not exist in the absence of functional brown adipose tissue), as well as for the cold acclimation-recruited norepinephrine-induced thermogenesis. Heat production from brown adipose tissue is activated whenever the organism is in need of extra heat, e.g., postnatally, during entry into a febrile state, and during arousal from hibernation, and the rate of thermogenesis is centrally controlled via a pathway initiated in the hypothalamus. Feeding as such also results in activation of brown adipose tissue; a series of diets, apparently all characterized by being low in protein, result in a leptin-dependent recruitment of the tissue; this metaboloregulatory thermogenesis is also under hypothalamic control. When the tissue is active, high amounts of lipids and glucose are combusted in the tissue. The development of brown adipose tissue with its characteristic protein, uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1), was probably determinative for the evolutionary success of mammals, as its thermogenesis enhances neonatal survival and allows for active life even in cold surroundings.

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Section: Immature Newborns Recruit Brown Adipose Tissue With a Delaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Brown Adipose Tissue: Function and Physiological Significance

Cannon

Nedergaard

2004

Physiological Reviews

5,487

126

5,981

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Brown adipose tissue of newborn dwarf Campbell's hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) is not functional before nine days old, and newborns are not able to thermoregulate independently before 15 days old. However, newborns aged six days show short episodes of thermogenesis, in contrast to isolated individuals that do not increase their body temperature independently before nine days of age (Newkirk, Silverman & Wynne-Edwards, 1995). Bautista et al (2003) reported that newborn rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), aged 2-5 days and placed in groups of four to six maintain on average a higher body temperature (36.5 • C) than isolated pups (34.0 • C).…”

Section: (7) Maintenance Of Body Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

One for all and all for one: the energetic benefits of huddling in endotherms

et al. 2010

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Huddling can be defined as "an active and close aggregation of animals". It is a cooperative group behaviour, permitting individuals involved in social thermoregulation to minimize heat loss and thereby lower their energy expenditure, and possibly allowing them to reallocate the saved energy to other functions such as growth or reproduction. Huddling is especially important in the case of animals faced with high heat loss due to a high surface-to-volume ratio, poor insulation, or living in cold environments. Although numerous experimental studies have focused on the huddling behaviour of a wide range of species, to our knowledge, this is the first attempt to review the various implications of this widely used behavioural strategy. Huddling allows individuals to maximise energy savings by (1) decreasing their cold-exposed body surface area, (2) reducing their heat loss through warming of ambient temperatures surrounding the group, and (3) eventually lowering their body temperature through physiological processes. Huddling provides substantial energy savings and is estimated to reduce energy expenditure by between 6 and 53%. Broad variations in the energetic benefits of huddling depend on the number of individuals and species involved in huddles, the ambient temperatures to which individuals are exposed and the density of the aggregations. It has been shown that huddling individuals have increased survival, a lower food intake, a decreased body mass loss, increased growth rate, reduced water loss, and/or a more constant body temperature together with a significant reduction in metabolic rate. Though huddling has been studied widely, this review reveals the intricacies of this adaptive behaviour.

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“…Throughout development, thermoregulatory ability is improved (Newkirk et al., ). Specifically, (1) during the first 3 days, pups are naked, pink, and lose heat passively; (2) from day 4–6, the fur starts to form, weak thermogenesis begins, and pups have limited locomotion within the nest; (3) from day 7–9, the fur is almost complete and pups actively huddle; (4) from day 10–12, pups exhibit limited ability to maintain their core body temperature in the absence their parents; (5) from day 13–15, pups begin to exit the nest to explore the environment; and (6) from day 16–18, pups are independent (Newkirk et al., ). The parental care carried out by both parents varies throughout the pup's development.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resting Metabolic Rate Is Positively Correlated with Parental Care Behavior in a Dwarf Hamster

2016

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Endotherms maintain high and constant body temperatures through the production and maintenance of metabolic heat. Defining the evolutionary history of these thermal adaptations and the selective factors responsible for the evolution of endothermy despite its high metabolic costs have been elusive and controversial topics in evolutionary biology. In this sense, several models have been proposed to explain the evolution of endothermy. Among them, the parental care model explains the increase in resting metabolic rate (RMR) by the action of natural selection favoring parental care. Thus, a positive relationship between parental care behavior and RMR is predicted. However, there appears to be no or little previous work experimentally testing this relationship. In the study presented here, RMR was increased through l-tyrosine injections and parental care behavior was measured. This treatment allowed us to test the relationship between RMR level and parental care behavior in a dwarf hamster. It was found that increased RMR enhanced male parental care. Specifically, male latency time, or the time until contacting and picking up their pups, decreased when RMR increased. This study demonstrates the positive relationship between RMR and the allocation of resources to parental care. This study supports the main assumption of Kotejas's parental care model and accepts Koteja's proposed explanation for the evolution of endothermy as a plausible hypothesis.

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Ontogeny of thermoregulation in the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus campbelli)

Cited by 34 publications

References 30 publications

Brown Adipose Tissue: Function and Physiological Significance

Brown Adipose Tissue: Function and Physiological Significance

One for all and all for one: the energetic benefits of huddling in endotherms

Resting Metabolic Rate Is Positively Correlated with Parental Care Behavior in a Dwarf Hamster

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