de la Cruz J P, Dauría P G, Vivas A B, Castanigno R A, Ibañez N
Departamento de Anatomía, Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina.
Rev Fac Cien Med Univ Nac Cordoba. 1997;55(1-2):9-13.
In this paper, the reproductive cycle of the European hare, Lepus europaeus, was studied during a complete annual period in females of a population from the southern region of the province of Cordoba. The animals were captured monthly. Age, corporal and ovarian weights were determined, and the ovaries were fixed in Bouin and processed by current histological techniques. During the period from July to February, the mean corporal weight was 3.70 kg +/- 0.15. The ovaries showed follicles in different developmental stages, corpora lutea and interstitial gland. Embryos were frequently found in the uterus. From March to June, on the other hand, mean corporal weigth was 3.16 kg +/- 0.11. The ovaries presented developing follicles, interstitial gland and corpora albicans, and no corpora lutea were found. From these results, it can be seen that the reproductive cycle is composed of two well-defined periods: I) Reproductive period, extending from July to February, and II) Non-reproductive period, form March to June. The results are compared with those obtained by other authors on other hare populations, specially on populations from the southern region of Argentina (Bariloche), taking into account regional environmental characteristics.
