LITTER SIZE, GROWTH RATE AND HEAT PRODUCTION OF SUCKLING RATS

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Abstract
A comparison is presented of the relative growth rates and O2 consumptions of suckling rats, birth to 21 days, members either of avg.-sized litters (7-9 per litter), or of reduced litters (1-2 per litter). Beginning with the 5th day after birth the avg. growth rate of the rats in the small litters was much greater than that of the rats in the normal litters, and the O2 consumptions at the same body wts. were greater for the more rapidly growing rats in the small litters than for-those in the normal litters. This is interpreted as evidence for the view that there is an organizational energy expense to growth and morphogenesis aside from the stored energy.

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