Rabbit’s ear in cold acclimation studied on the change in ear temperature

acclimation studied on the change in ear temperature. J. Appl. Physiol. 38(3) : 389-394. 1975.-The role of the rabbit’s ear in cold acclimation was studied by varying the temperature of a climatic room in the range from- 10 to +3O”C. The skin temperature in a nonanesthetized rabbit’s ear showed a characteristic response to changes in ambient temperatures: plotting the ear temperature against the ambient temperature yielded an S-shaped curve. The mean ambient temperature corresponding to the inflection point on the S-shaped curve shifted significantly from about 13 “C to about 8OC after cold acclimated of a group fed for 7 wk at- l0 OC. The shift of the S-shaped curve after cold acclimation may not be due to the change in the norepinephrine sensitivity of the vascular beds of the ear: the effect of norepinephrine on the pressure-flow curve in the isolated rabbit’s ear was almost unchanged between the control and the cold-acclimated groups