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Infants of gerbil mothers whose ventral scent gland has been excised were compared on a number of developmental indices with pups of mothers who had had an equivalent section of lateral skin removed. The removal of the mother's ventral scent gland retarded the offsprings' pattern of ultrasounding during the 1st 21 days of development. In addition, infants from such mothers showed a retarded righting reflex. Inhibitions in the developmental behavior of gerbil pups might have resulted from less effective heat transfer during mother-pup contact. Indeed, excision of the gland resulted in lower ventral temperatures. The duality of function of the gland as an odor source for communication and as a heat source for offspring development suggests integrated communicative and thermoregulatory processes.
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
October 1973,
Physiology & behavior,
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
February 1970,
Animal behaviour,
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
April 1974,
Science (New York, N.Y.),
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
January 1977,
Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung. Section C, Biosciences,
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
April 1981,
Jikken dobutsu. Experimental animals,
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
January 1975,
Behavioral biology,
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
March 1974,
Physiology & behavior,
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
April 1968,
Laboratory animal care,
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
September 2011,
Journal of toxicologic pathology,
E M Kittrell, and
B R Gregg, and
D D Thiessen
December 1968,
Journal of comparative and physiological psychology,
