| Abstract: | Notes that during the 1st 10 days of life, golden hamster pups lack physiological mechanisms for thermoregulation, and are thus ectothermic (i.e., they depend on heat from the environment). In their mother's absence, they conserve heat by burying together, thus reducing the amount of surface area exposed to the air. In the 6 experiments reported here, it is shown that the neonatal pup is extraordinarily sensitive to thermal gradients, and under conditions of heat loss pups demonstrate this sensitivity by moving rapidly away from cooler regions. Results suggest that the pup's high sensitivity is due to spatial and/or temporal integration of thermal information from all parts of its body. Such thermal responsivity would be sufficient to account for the pup's burying behavior in the nest. The thermotaxic response weakens after 8 days of age, probably as a result of decreasing thermal sensitivity and the maturation of competing responses. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
