Abstract
Female prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster require stimulation by males to become reproductively activated and normally do not express “spontaneous” cycles of ovarian activity (Richmond and Conaway, 1969). Thirty-six to 48 hr after the onset of exposure to an unfamiliar male, virgin females become sexually receptive (Carter et al., 1980). In this period of time, follicular maturation takes place and uterine mass substantially increases. Ovulation does not occur until stimulated by copulation (Richmond and Conaway, 1969). The evolutionary factors that have resulted in this type of reproductive system have been mostly a matter of speculation. For example, it’s unclear whether the voles’ system is either primitive to or derived from that of rodents in which spontaneous ovulatory cycles are the norm.
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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Gardner, R.R., Lepri, J.J., Gatten, R.E. (1992). Reproductive Activation and Metabolism in Female Voles. In: Doty, R.L., Müller-Schwarze, D. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 6. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9655-1_44
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9655-1_44
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