lactation
- Exposure to hot temperatures during lactation in Swiss mice stunts offspring growth and decreases future reproductive performance of female offspring
Summary: Transient exposure to high temperature during lactation stunts growth and decreases future reproductive performance in adult mice; female offspring previously experiencing high temperatures have a significant fitness disadvantage.
- Limits to sustained energy intake. XXVII. Trade-offs between first and second litters in lactating mice support the ecological context hypothesis
Highlighted Article: Data from this paper indicate that there may be a ‘soft’ limit dependent on female ‘choice’ on energy allocation to their litters, rather than a ‘hard’, unbreachable limit defined by aspects of maternal physiology as is commonly assumed.
- Sustained energy intake in lactating Swiss mice: a dual modulation process
Summary: Sustained energy intake in lactating Swiss mice is modulated by both litter size and temperature.
- The high cost of reproduction in sea otters necessitates unique physiological adaptations
Highlighted Article: Female sea otters must manage high pup rearing costs on top of exceptional baseline energy demands; to accomplish this task, they exhibit distinct metabolic changes during key reproductive stages.
- Plasticity in gastrointestinal morphology and enzyme activity in lactating striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis)
Summary: Lactating striped hamsters show significant plasticity in digestive tract morphology and enzyme activity, which increases reproductive performance.