We have located links that may give you full text access.
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Separating maternal and litter-size effects on early postnatal growth in two species of altricial small mammals.
Physiology & Behavior 2008 March 19
Growth during an animal's early ontogeny can have important consequences for its health, reproduction and survival during later life. We studied pre-weaning growth rates of two species of small altricial mammals, and assessed the impact and compared the importance of two main aspects of the animals' early environment: maternal characteristics and the number of litter siblings (i.e. litter size). Study animals were wild-type European rabbits living in a field enclosure and laboratory rats kept under standardized housing conditions. Growth of rabbit pups was best explained (to 47%) by the combined effects of litter size, maternal age and whether females had given birth to another litter shortly before. Similarly, growth in rat pups was best explained (to 75%) by the combined effects of litter size, maternal body mass and whether mothers had previously given birth. In both species, litter size correlated negatively with pup growth. In rabbits, growth was greatest in litters of middle-aged females. In rats, pup growth correlated positively with maternal mass. Pups of both species showed higher growth rates when the mother had not given birth to a previous litter. Despite major differences in maternal behaviour and study conditions between the two species, the findings point to a similar ranking in the importance of the different parameters tested: Litter size, i.e. sibling number, was the most important factor, followed by maternal mass or age, and then by mothers' history of previous reproductive activity. We therefore think it likely that these findings will be valid for other mammalian species giving birth to large litters of altricial young.
Full text links
Related Resources
Trending Papers
Executive Summary: State-of-the-Art Review: Unintended Consequences: Risk of Opportunistic Infections Associated with Long-term Glucocorticoid Therapies in Adults.Clinical Infectious Diseases 2024 April 11
Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemias: Classifications, Pathophysiology, Diagnoses and Management.International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2024 April 13
Clinical practice guidelines on the management of status epilepticus in adults: A systematic review.Epilepsia 2024 April 13
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.
By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Your Privacy Choices
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app