A study in mice and striped hamsters finds that at 33 °C, the milk energy output of lactating mice and hamsters was 18% and 78.1%, respectively, of that at 21 °C, with reduced pup growth in both rodents and increased pup mortality in hamsters; further analysis revealed that in late lactation, the upper lethal temperature was decreased by 3-6 °C , showing that high temperatures at critical periods in lactation can adversely affect rodent parenting success.
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Article #20-08974: "Late lactation in small mammals is a critically sensitive window of vulnerability to elevated ambient temperature," by Zhi-Jun Zhao et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: John R. Speakman, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, CHINA; e-mail: < j.speakman@abdn.ac.uk >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences