Adaptive behaviour of laboratory rats feeding in hot conditions.

1. A group of six rats, living at thermoneutrality, but with access to food only under a high heat load, was compared with a similar group living and eating at thermoneutrality. 2. Animals eating in the heat reduced total food intake, meal duration, total feeding time, and rate of weight gain; they increased frequency of feeding and had higher water intakes. 3. Identifiable behavioral and nutritional responses explained some of the difference in adaptation between the groups through other factors may also have played a role.