HUDDLING BY RAT PUPS - GROUP BEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS OF TEMPERATURE REGULATION AND ENERGY-CONSERVATION
HUDDLING BY RAT PUPS - GROUP BEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS OF TEMPERATURE REGULATION AND ENERGY-CONSERVATION
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DOI：
10.1037/h0077459
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发表时间：
1978-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
ALBERTS, JR
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
ALBERTS, JR
身体热量损失衰减和O2消耗减少蜷缩在窝发育大鼠。幼鼠从蜷缩中获得生理益处，类似于成年哺乳动物所享有的益处，这与先前将晚期大鼠描述为变温的特征形成对比。蜷缩通过减少参与者暴露的体表面积来隔热，从而延缓热量损失并提高产热效率。这些聚集的物理机制由幼崽主动调节。一种新的定量测量蜷缩的大小揭示了一种形式的群体调节行为的大鼠幼崽，即表面扩大和收缩的增加和减少环境温度。通过标记单个幼崽并通过延时摄像观察它们挤在一起，研究了这种群体调节活动的个体基础。单个动物在拥挤的人群中来回走动，经常在群体中交换位置。通过研究麻醉幼犬和标记对照同胞的蜷缩位置，阐明了幼犬流的动力学。移动的方向是积极向下，进入桩;不动的幼崽“漂浮”在表面上。当巢温升高到热中性时，幼仔流的方向反转，一只不动的动物沉到了蜷缩的深处。通过个体的竞争性调整，这个群体就像一个自我调节的单元，为所有活跃的成员提供温暖和绝缘。
Body heat loss was attenuated and O2 consumption was reduced by huddling in litters of developing rats. Rat pups derive physiological benefits from huddling similar to those enjoyed by adult mammals which is in contrast with previous characterizations of the altricial rat as poikilothermic. Huddling insulates by lessening the exposed body surface area of the participants, thus retarding heat loss and enhancing the efficiency of thermogenesis. These physical mechanisms of the clump are actively regulated by the pups. A novel quantitative measure of huddle size revealed a form of group regulatory behavior in rat pups whereby the surface expanded and contracted with increases and decreases in ambient temperature. The individual basis of this group regulatory activity was investigated by marking individual pups and observing them in huddles by means of time-lapse videography. Individual animals circulated through the huddle, frequently exchanging locations in the group. By studying the huddle positions of an anesthetized pup and a marked control sibling, dynamics of the pup flow were clarified. The direction of movement was actively downward, into the pile; immobile pups "floated" on the surface. When the nest temperature was raised to thermoneutral, the direction of pup flow reversed and an immobile animal sank to the depths of the huddle. Through individual competitive adjustments the huddle behaves as a self-regulating unit which provides warmth and insulation to all its active members.