Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T02:36:25.105Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The significance of the extremities of the ox (Bos taurus) in thermoregulation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

G. C. Whittow
G. C. Whittow
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology, The Hannah Dairy Research Institute, Ayr, Scotland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

1. Measurements of the temperatures of the extremities, rectal temperatures, respiratory rates and heart rates have been made in calves during exposure at environmental temperatures within the range – 5·0° –45·0° C.

2. Large variations in the skin temperatures of the extremities were recorded between environmental temperatures of –5·0° and 25·0° C. At environmental temperatures above 25·0° C. the extremity temperatures and the skin temperatures of the trunk were similar.

3. Feeding and localized infra-red irradiation of part of the trunk of the animals resulted in marked increases in the skin temperatures of the unheated extremities.

4. Evidence was obtained that the variations in the skin temperatures of the extremities were brought about by changes of blood flow to these parts.

5. Respiratory rates varied also with the environmental temperature at which the animals were exposed. When the animals were exposed to localized infra-red irradiation of the trunk the increase in respiratory rate was significantly greater when the extremities were initially warm than when they were cool.

6. In addition to spontaneous fluctuations in the skin temperatures of the ears at environmental temperatures of 10·0°–25·0° C, periodic increases in the skin temperatures of the ears were observed in all the calves at an environmental temperature of – 5·0° C. The increase in the skin temperatures of the ears persisted throughout the 7 hr. exposure to an environmental temperature of – 5·0° C.

7. It was concluded that, in a temperate climate, variations in the skin temperatures of the extremities of the ox have a thermoregulatory function.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , February 1962 , pp. 109 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1962

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bazett, H. C. (1949). In Physiology of Heat Regulation and the Science of Clothing. Ed. Newburgh, L. H.London: Saunders.Google Scholar
Beakley, W. R. & Findlay, J. D. (1955 a). J. Agric. Sci. 45, 373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beakley, W. R. & Findlay, J. D. (1955 b). J. Agric. Sci. 45, 452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beakley, W. R. & Findlay, J. D. (1955 c). J. Agric. Sci. 45, 461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brody, S. (1944). Bioenergetics and Growth. New York: Reinhold.Google Scholar
Brody, S. (1948). Res. Bull. Mo. Agric. Exp. Sta. no. 423.Google Scholar
Day, R. (1949). In Physiology of Heat Regulation and the Science of Clothing. Ed. Kewburgh, L. H.London: Saunders.Google Scholar
Findlay, J. D. & Ingram, D. L. (1961). J. Physiol. 155, 72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Findlay, J. D., McLean, J. A. & Bennet, R. D. (1959). Heat. Vent. Engr, 33, 95.Google Scholar
Glaser, E. M. (1949). J. Physiol. 109, 366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodall, A. M. (1955). J. Anat., Land., 89, 100.Google Scholar
Grant, R. T. (1930). Heart, 15, 281.Google Scholar
Irving, L. & Krog, J. (1955). J. appl. Physiol. 7, 355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kibler, H. H. & Brody, S. (1956). Res. Bull. Mo. Agric. Exp. Sta. no. 601.Google Scholar
Lewis, T. & Grant, R. T. (1926). Heart, 12, 73.Google Scholar
Maddock, W. G. & Coller, F. A. (1933). Amer. J. Physiol. 106, 589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDowell, R. E. (1958). J. Hered. 49, 52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nisbet, W. (1958). J. Physiol. 144, 4P.Google Scholar
Thompson, H. J., Worstell, D. M. & Brody, S. (1952). Res. Bull. Mo. Agric. Exp. Sta. no. 489.Google Scholar
Thompson, H. J., Worstell, D. M. & Brody, S. (1953). Res. Bull. Mo. Agric. Exp. Sta. no. 531.Google Scholar