Unusual Reproductive Phenomena in Rodents

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Abstract
Cases are reported of births of 2d litters without breeding of the mother following the previous litter, as follows: (1) white rat, 11 young born 25 days after previous litter; (2) dba mouse, 7 young born 36 days after previous litter; (3) deer mouse, 4 young born 28 days after previous litter; (4) guinea pig, 3 young born 42-46 days after previous litter (70-74 days of isolation from male). In each instance the female had been kept separate from a male since before the birth of the 1st litter. The 2d litter of guinea pigs may be due to superfetation; the remaining cases cannot be. Parthenogenesis is improbable, since at least 2 of the 2nd litters contained both sexes. Delayed implantation is difficult to imagine in any of these cases. The literature on the subject is reviewed, but no hypothesis as to mechanism is offered.

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