Seasonal variation in acceleration and delay of sexual maturation in female mice by urinary chemosignals.

Data were compiled and analysed from experiments done over a 10-year period on the acceleration and delay of sexual maturation of female house mice by urinary chemosignals from conspecific males and females. Distinct seasonal patterns emerged for control mice treated with water and for both the acceleration of maturation due to a chemosignal in male mouse urine and the delay of maturation which results from treatment with urine from grouped females. Urine from males accelerated puberty during the period March to September, but not during the months of October through February. Urine from grouped females delayed puberty for the months of September to April, but not for the period May through August.