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Acclimation as a mechanism of mitigating the damaging effects of acorn tannins was examined in the Japanese wood mouseApodemus speciosus Temminck, 1844. Mice were fed the two types of diet: a control diet (laboratory chow for mice), and acorns ofQuercus serrata (QS), which differ in tannin contents (control=0%, QS=2.7% tannic acid equivalent). Body weight changes and digestive abilities were compared between the first stage (Days 1 to 5; Day 0 was defined as the first day of acorn feeding) and the second stage (Days 6 to 10). The amount of salivary proline-rich proteins (PRPs), which are thought to be defensive products to tannins, was measured before and after the experiment. The responses of the wood mice to QS acorns differed between stages: decreases in body weight during the second stage were less than half those that occurred during the first stage; digestive abilities tended to …