%0 Journal Article %A SUN Ping %A WANG Dehua %A XIONG Jianli %A ZHAO Xinquan %A ZHU Wenwen %T Nest-building promotes male offspring body weight development and survival in root vole (Microtus oeconomus) %D 2010 %R %J ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA %P 127-132 %V 30 %N 2 %X Wild root voles (Microtus oeconomus) make nests in the field because of the cold winters and the low temperatures in summer nights. When bred in laboratory,most of them continue to make nests. Nevertheless,some root voles do not make nests anymore. To test the hypothesis that nest-building is an important thermoregulatory behavior to promote the high fitness of the parents even in the normal temperature conditions (at 22 ± 2℃ ),two experiments were conducted. PartⅠ:Thirty mating pairs including fifteen nest-building and fifteen non-nest-building,were provided with 5. 3 g of cotton to build a nest,for a period of 30 days. The temperatures in nest-building and non-nest-building groups,in and above nest,with animals or without animals,and the changes of temperature during 60 min periods were investigated. PartⅡ:Twenty-four broods’were used in this experiment. The body weight on natal day and weaning day,and numbers and age in days of infanticides were recorded. The results showed the average temperature in the nest-building group was significantly higher than the non-nest-building group. On the contrary, average temperature above the nest of nest-building group was lower than for the non-nest-building group. Average body weight on natal day was not different between the nest-building group and the non-nest-building group but average body weight on weaning day was significantly different between the nest-building group and the non-nest-building group. There were significant differences in male offsprings’average body weight between the nest-building group and the non-nest-building group from 2 to 14. %U http://www.mammal.cn/EN/abstract/article_2318.shtml