Rectal temperatures before and after parturition in bottlenose dolphins

✍ Scribed by Fumio Terasawa; Yoshihiro Yokoyama; Masakazu Kitamura

• Book ID: 101269037
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 18 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0733-3188
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2361(1999)18:2<153::aid-zoo7>3.0.co;2-f

✦ Synopsis

In five parturitions of four bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus gilli), rectal temperatures (RTs) were determined at least once a day during the late period of pregnancy. Four of the five pregnancies showed a drop in RT ranging from 0.7 to 1.3°C (an average decrease of 0.9°C) from 24 to 12 hr pre-partum. In these four cases, RT was significantly lower than their averages from 10 days to 1 day pre-partum (P < 0.05). In two dolphins, the first RT post-partum was higher than the average RT from 10 days to 1 day pre-partum. Seasonal changes in RT were observed in six non-pregnant dolphins. Average RT in June through August was significantly higher and in December through February was significantly lower than the rest of the year (P < 0.01). Zoo Biol 18:153-156, 1999.