Terada A, Ibuka N
Department of Psychology, Shiga University, Japan.
Chronobiol Int. 2000 Sep;17(5):623-30. doi: 10.1081/cbi-100101069.
In this study, we aimed to show how age affects hibernation in the Syrian hamster. Experimentally, we used 30 male animals differing in age. The old animals were 20 months of age and the adults were 8 months of age at the end of the test. The young animals were 3 weeks old at the start of testing and 5 months old at the end of the testing period. The torpor observation started October 15, 1996, and ended March 11, 1997, in the laboratory colony maintained under natural photoperiod and outdoor air. Observations were performed around noon daily. Three measures (i.e., prehibernation period [hibernation latency], proportion of hibernation spent in torpor, and proportion of animals in torpor), all of which reflect the strength of occurrence of hibernation, indicated that the older hamsters (1) started hibernation earlier, (2) spent more time in torpor, and (3) had a higher chance of being in torpor than the younger ones during the hibernation season.
在本研究中，我们旨在展示年龄如何影响叙利亚仓鼠的冬眠。通过实验，我们使用了30只年龄不同的雄性动物。在测试结束时，老年动物为20月龄，成年动物为8月龄。幼年动物在测试开始时为3周龄，在测试期结束时为5月龄。蛰伏观察于1996年10月15日开始，1997年3月11日结束，在自然光照周期和室外空气条件下饲养的实验动物群体中进行。观察在每天中午左右进行。反映冬眠发生强度的三项指标（即冬眠前期[冬眠潜伏期]、在蛰伏中度过的冬眠时间比例以及处于蛰伏状态的动物比例）表明，在冬眠季节，老年仓鼠（1）更早开始冬眠，（2）在蛰伏中花费更多时间，（3）比幼年仓鼠处于蛰伏状态的几率更高。
