Circannual cycles of body mass food intake and reproductive condition in male pallid bats.
Gonadectomy did not eliminate circannual cycles of body mass and food intake in male pallid bats maintained for up to 30 months in short or long photoperiods at a constant temperature of 23 +/- 2 degrees C. Generation and expression of circannual rhythms is independent of the annual testicular cycle. Initial peak body and testicular masses were recorded within one month of each other but the peak in food intake occurred approximately eight months after animals attained peaks in body mass. Increased metabolic efficiency appears to act independently of changes in food intake to effect seasonal increases in body mass of pallid bats.
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D009919:Orchiectomy; D012621:Seasons; D013737:Testis / Q000502:physiology*