The Ontogeny of Circadian Rhythms in the Rabbit

Abstract

The nursing rhythms of 14 rabbit does and the activity of 18 litters from birth to days 14-16 were monitored continuously, as were the circadian rhythms of different behavioral functions of 10 young rabbits from weaning until day 380 of life. The does gave birth 2 hr, 26 min ± 2 hr, 8 min after lights-on in a light-dark cycle (LD 12:12). The first nursing occurred 20 hr, 30 min ± 2 hr, 21 min after parturition. Does that had continuous access to the nest boxes exhibited a regular once-a-day nursing rhythm; the nursing visits to the litters occurred during the dark phase (D). The nursing visits lasted 3 min, 42 sec ± 25 sec. Nursing advanced during the first 10 days of lactation by an average of 42 ± 16 min/day, and thus shifted to the first half of D. The pups anticipated nursing by a significant increase of activity, which was established between days 1 and 5 of life. In two does, the nursing rhythm split into two nursing visits per day, one during D and one during the light phase (L). When scheduled to nurse at an "artificial" phase in L with T = 24 hr, the pups' anticipatory activity was entrained by the 24-hr nursing rhythm. During a 48-hr fast, the elevated activity persisted around the phase of prior nursing time, demonstrating that it was controlled by an endogenous oscillator entrained by the zeitgeber of maternal nursing. Of 10 weanlings, 6 first exhibited a trimodal rhythm, which turned bimodal within 3-6 days. Stable entrainment by the external LD zeitgeber was attained by about days 45-80, and full nocturnality was attained by about days 200-250 after weaning. Having attained steady-state conditions, 7 of 10 rabbits exhibited a stable unimodal, nocturnal rhythm in each of the five functions, while the other 3 retained a bimodal rhythm.