Failure of cryptorchidism to suppress fertility in a tropical rodent

Abstract

The cane mouse (Zygodontomys brevicauda) breeds year-round on the hot llanos of Venezuela, only 8° above the equator. The reproductive responses of the males of this species to heat were compared with those of a temperate zone rodent, the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). When tested at different ambient temperatures, the movement of the testis in relation to the scrotum was similar in the two species, but the cane mouse's testis proved to be much more resistant to maintenance at core body temperature. In two experiments, cryptorchid cane mice experienced only a 24% and a 5% decrease in testis weight, and almost all of these males showed normal spermatogenesis and sperm storage. In comparison, cryptorchid white-footed mice showed a 58% drop in testis weight, a total inhibition of spermatogenesis, and a complete or near absence of stored sperm in all males. A mating test demonstrated that cane mice indeed remain fertile for at least 2 to 3 mo after being rendered cryptorchid. Normal numbers of these males when paired with females fathered normal litters. It is noted that the relative insensitivity of the testis of the cane mouse to heat might actually be more representative of scrotal mammals in general than is suggested by our present perspective, which has been developed on the basis of study of humans and mammals from cool climates rather than the tropics, where most mammals live.