Parental influences on female puberty in the monogamous California mouse, Peromyscus californicus

Abstract

Sexual maturation of juvenille Peromyscus californicus females was delayed if females were housed with both parents. This delay was attributed to contact with the mother rather than the father. Sexual maturation was not affected by contact with a strange male, but puberty was delayed by contact with a strange female. In subsequent studies, the role of maternal urinary chemosignals and physical contact in delaying puberty was examined. Exposure to maternal urine or soiled bedding had no effect on sexual maturation in juvenile females. Puberty was delayed in juvenile females that had direct physical contact with their mother compared with females not exposed to their mother. Females exposed to their mother, but prevented physical contact by a double wire-mesh barrier, showed an intermediate delay in sexual maturation which did not differ significantly from either the contact or unexposed females. Thus physical contact with the mother and not a urinary chemosignal per se is necessary to delay sexual maturation in P. californicus.