The existence of a puberty accelerating pheromone in the urine of the male prairie deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii)

Abstract

These experiments were designed to test for the presence of a puberty accelerating pheromone in the prairie deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii). Body weight, total reproductive weight, ovary and oviduct weight and uterus weight were measured in animals exposed to water, fresh urine of intact males, frozen urine from intact males and urine from castrate males. Corpora lutea and maturing follicles were evaluated in animals exposed to water and urine from intact males. Exposure to fresh or frozen urine from intact males for 14 days resulted in significant increases in mean ovarian and uterine weights relative to animals exposed to water. Urine from castrate males did not produce any increase in reproductive tract weight relative to water. Significantly more corpora lutea were present in animals exposed to urine from intact males than in those exposed to water. It was concluded that a pheromone which accelerates puberty in the young female deermouse is present in the urine of the male deermouse and is not destroyed by freezing.