Clark M M, Galef B G
Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Physiol Behav. 1988;42(1):15-8. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(88)90253-3.
Examination of the rate of sexual maturation of 79 female gerbils from 32 Caesarean-delivered, foster-reared litters revealed that those females that, as fetuses, occupied uterine positions adjacent to one or two males (1M and 2M females) were less likely than those females occupying uterine positions not adjacent to males (0M females) to exhibit early vaginal opening. Our data further indicated that the uterine environment provided by late-maturing female gerbils biased their fetal daughters to themselves be late maturing to a greater extent than the daughters' uterine positions could explain. Daughters of late-maturing females in 1M and 2M uterine locations were more likely to be late-maturing than were daughters of early-maturing females in similar uterine locations. Because in female Mongolian gerbils age at vaginal opening is a powerful predictor of future reproductive strategy, the present results indicate that in female gerbils both prenatal maternal influence and uterine location are important determinants of future reproductive behaviors.
对来自32窝剖腹产、寄养饲养的79只雌性沙鼠的性成熟率进行检查后发现，那些在胎儿期占据与一两只雄性相邻子宫位置的雌性（1M和2M雌性）比那些占据不与雄性相邻子宫位置的雌性（0M雌性）更不容易出现早期阴道开口。我们的数据进一步表明，晚熟雌性沙鼠提供的子宫环境使其胎儿期的女儿比女儿的子宫位置所能解释的程度更大地倾向于自身晚熟。处于1M和2M子宫位置的晚熟雌性的女儿比处于类似子宫位置的早熟雌性的女儿更有可能晚熟。由于在雌性蒙古沙鼠中，阴道开口的年龄是未来生殖策略的有力预测指标，目前的结果表明，在雌性沙鼠中，产前母体影响和子宫位置都是未来生殖行为的重要决定因素。
