Metabolic strategies of pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus) during reproduction.

Both lactating and non-lactating pallid bats defend a high body temperature in a cool ambient temperature during the summer months by increasing their metabolism. Metabolism decreased between August and September in captive females maintained under constant conditions and melatonin implants accelerated this shift from homeothermy to heterothermy. There appears to be an endogenous change in metabolism which can be accelerated by a rise in circulating melatonin levels.