Abstract
Coordination of reproductive condition in male pocket mice (Perognathus formosus) by environmental factors limits the season of reproduction to a time associated with the springtime peak in availability of dietary resources that are critical to reproduction. This optimal time for reproduction follows winter hibernation and precedes summer drought. Responsiveness of reproductive function to environmental influences was studied in male P. formosus of the Mojave Desert region by bringing freshly captured animals into the laboratory at different seasons and exposing them to a variety of experimental manipulations. Long days (16 h light/day) stimulated or maintained seasonal testicular function, whereas short days (8 h light/day) were nonstimulatory or inhibitory. However, because natural reproductive development begins while the mice hibernate underground in total darkness, it is not yet clear how day length might influence this pattern of reproductive development in nature. Reproductive development was great...
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