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Updated: Nov 9, 2025

Measuring Skeletal Muscle Thermogenesis in Mice and Rats
Published on: July 27, 2022
Pros and cons for the evidence of adaptive non-shivering thermogenesis in marsupials
Martin Jastroch1, Elias T Polymeropoulos2, Michael J Gaudry3
1Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden. martin.jastroch@su.se.
Abstract:
The thermogenic mechanisms supporting endothermy are still not fully understood in all major mammalian subgroups. In placental mammals, brown adipose tissue currently represents the most accepted source of adaptive non-shivering thermogenesis. Its mitochondrial protein UCP1 (uncoupling protein 1) catalyzes heat production, but the conservation of this mechanism is unclear in non-placental mammals and lost in some placentals. Here, we review the evidence for and against adaptive non-shivering thermogenesis in marsupials, which diverged from placentals about 120-160 million years ago. We critically discuss potential mechanisms that may be involved in the heat-generating process among marsupials.
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