Social Factors Influencing Delayed Reproductive Maturation in Prairie Deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii) in Laboratory Populations

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Abstract
Six populations of prairie deermice were founded by releasing four males and four pregnant females into 1.9-m2 enclosures with nest boxes, food and water in surplus. Offspring between 130 and 150 days of age were paired with sibs of the opposite sex and placed in “No-Contact” cages either (1) within the population enclosure where they received visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli from the populations; or (2) outside of the population enclosure but in the same room. Other sibs were (3) left freely ranging in the population. Treatment continued for 100 days. Animals removed from tactile communication with the population developed significantly larger reproductive organs and had a significantly higher reproductive rate than their freely ranging sibs. However, the weights of the reproductive organs and the reproductive rate were significantly less among those animals caged within the populations than those caged outside. Thus while tactile cues appear to be of primary importance in inhibiting reproductive organ development within the populations, once such inhibition has occurred, other cues (auditory, visual, olfactory) may act to retard reproductive recovery.