Reproductive Biology of Ord's Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ordii) in Oklahoma

Hoditschek, Barbara; Best, Troy L.

doi:10.2307/1380757

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Whether any young are successfully raised if the rains fail is unknown, but the recently formed ovarian corpora lutea in the 2 females in sample 7 indicate that ovulations might take place at this time. Such trends of seasonality of reproductive activity have been suggested for a number of other species of desert rodents on other continents: for example, species of Gerbillus, Psammomys and Jaculus in North Africa (Ghobrial & Hodieb 1973;Khammar & Brudieux 1987, 1989, Monogolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) in western China (Liu et al 2007), Rhombomys opimus in Uzbekistan (Randall et al 2005) and Dipodomys species in North America (Reichman & Van de Graff 1973;Hoditschek & Best 1983;Kenagy & Bartholomew 1985).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…This is suggestive of a monogamous mating system (Kenagy &Trombulak 1986;Ramm et al 2005), although the data to support this are rather fragmentary at the present time (Breed & Washington 1991;Breed & Adams 1992), with no appropriate study on a wild population having yet been carried out. That such small testis mass is not restricted to bipedal rodents is evident from the considerably larger testis weight found in animals during the breeding season in species of Dipodomys (Hoditschek & Best 1983;Kenagy & Bartholomew 1985), as well as in North African gerbils (Gerbillus campestris) (Khammar & Brudieux 1987, 1989. In N. alexis, it is likely that even though comparatively low numbers of sperm are produced, rapid sperm transport takes place along the male reproductive tract with the consequence that quick replenishment of the sperm reserves occurs soon after ejaculation, meaning a rapid recovery of fertility (Peirce & Breed 1989Bauer & Breed 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reproductive biology of an old endemic murid rodent of Australia, the Spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis: adaptations for life in the arid zone

Breed

Leigh

2011

Integrative Zoology

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The Spinifex hopping mouse (Notomys alexis Thomas, 1922) is an arid adapted Australo-Papuan old endemic rodent that undergoes boom and bust population cycles. In this communication, we review our findings on the timing of reproduction and the potential reproductive rate of this species. To investigate the first question, the reproductive condition of adult females, and occurrence of immatures, in a population on a cattle station in central Australia was determined and, for the second, data from a laboratory colony compared to those previously published on closely related species in other environments. The findings show that, at least in the population at the times that monitoring was performed, reproductive activity was only taking place in spring and early summer, whereas the laboratory study indicates that females have a similar gestation length and litter size to those of most close relatives occurring in other environments. Males have extremely small testes and store relatively few sperm. The findings suggest that Notomys alexis might show some seasonality of reproduction at least in this region of central Australia and that this species does not have a higher reproductive rate than that of related species in other, more predictable, environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive biology of an old endemic murid rodent of Australia, the Spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis: adaptations for life in the arid zone

Breed

Leigh

2011

Integrative Zoology

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“…rather, they are solitary and highly territorial (Eisenberg 1963 Eisenberg 1963, Gamer 1974). Nero and Fyfe 1956 (Hoditschek and Best 1983); however, there are generally only one or two breeding cycles each year (Flake 1974, Johnston 1956 Age of first reproduction is approximately 83 days (Jones 1985) and the average number of embryos per female was 3.5 in Nevada (range = 1 to 6, Hall 1946) and 2.4 in New Mexico (range = 2 to 3, Johnston 1956). The number of embryos per female appears to be positively correlated with precipitation (Best and Hoditschek 1986).…”

Section: Canadamentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of the Ord's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii) in Alberta /

Gummer¹,

Alberta.²

1997

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report to be written. D. Baron (Royal Saskatchewan Museum) and H. Bryant (Provincial Museum of Alberta) provided information about museum records. W. Gummer assisted with the distribution maps and K. Gummer edited the manuscript. D. Prescott, S. Brechtel, H. BryaQt, and H. Reynolds (Canadian Wildlife Service) provided useful comments on earlier drafts of the report. Recent research on the ecology and behaviour of northern Ord's Kangaroo Rats has been supported by the Alberta Challenge Grants in Biodiversity,

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“…We suspect that a larger sample would reveal significant balance in CL as well. How¬ ever, the 10-20% estimated intrauterine mortality reported for this species by Hoditschek & Best (1983) may indicate partial uterine control of balance, if unbalanced embryos have a higher than average probability of being resorbed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Bilateral distribution of implantation sites in small mammals of 22 North American species

Baird¹,

Birney²

1985

Reproduction

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Summary. The distribution of activity between the left and right sides of the reproductive tract, as measured by numbers of CL, embryos and placental scars, was studied in small mammals of 22 species. Shrews ovulate from the two ovaries in a distribution that does not differ from the binomial. Implantation of blastocysts in the two uterine horns is more nearly even ('balanced') than would be predicted from the binomial distribution. Balance in this group apparently is achieved by transuterine migration of blastocysts, perhaps in conjunction with some spacing mechanism within the uterus. Some cricetid rodents show little or no balance, but in others the distribution of activity sites (embryos, CL and placental scars) departs significantly from the binomial distribution. Reproductive activity sites of heteromyid and geomyid rodents (Geomyoidea) are highly balanced; uterine balance apparently is achieved by means of ovarian rather than uterine control.We know of no previous reports of ovarian balance and suggest that physiological mechanisms controlling numbers of ovulations in the species exhibiting this characteristic may differ from those in species exhibiting a random distribution of ovulation sites. Hypotheses regarding evolutionary aspects of balance are considered in phylogenetic and ecological terms, generating several testable research questions for physiologists, anatomists, and evolutionary ecologists.

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Reproductive Biology of Ord's Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ordii) in Oklahoma

Cited by 8 publications

References 18 publications

Reproductive biology of an old endemic murid rodent of Australia, the Spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis: adaptations for life in the arid zone

Reproductive biology of an old endemic murid rodent of Australia, the Spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis: adaptations for life in the arid zone

Status of the Ord's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii) in Alberta /

Bilateral distribution of implantation sites in small mammals of 22 North American species

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