Brood patch function for the ventral scent gland of the female Mongolian gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus.

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.