Energetic limits on reproduction: interaction of thermal and dietary factors.
The time that food-restricted Norway rat dams spent in contact with their offspring was elevated only during that portion of the day in which their body temperatures were depressed. These data support a thermal model for the limitation of mother-young contact. The depression in maternal body temperature appeared to be due to a direct limitation on available fuel, rather than being mediated by a depression in circulating hormone levels.
D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D005508:Food Deprivation / Q000502:physiology; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood; D051381:Rats; D013997:Time Factors
D011374:Progesterone