Seasonal reproduction in the eastern rock elephant-shrew : influenced by rainfall and ambient temperature?

dc.contributor.authorMedger, Katarina
dc.contributor.authorChimimba, Christian Timothy
dc.contributor.authorBennett, Nigel Charles
dc.contributor.emailkmedger@zoology.up.ac.zaen
dc.date.accessioned2012-12-12T06:11:54Z
dc.date.available2013-12-31T00:20:05Z
dc.date.issued2012-12
dc.description.abstractBecause environmental conditions vary seasonally in most regions, many small mammals reproduce at a specific time of the year to maximize their reproductive success. In the tropics and subtropics, the breeding season is usually determined by the extent of the dry and rainy seasons. We investigated the seasonality of reproduction in the eastern rock elephant-shrew (Elephantulus myurus), over a 12-month period and attempted to elucidate the factors that may influence seasonal reproduction in this endemic African mammal. E. myurus breeds seasonally during the warm and wet spring and summer months and cessation of breeding occurs during the cold and dry winter months of the southern hemisphere. Pregnant females were only collected from August through to January. Ovarian size and plasma progesterone started to increase a few months prior to the first rains, were highest in October and decreased thereafter. Follicular growth and corpora body numbers corresponded to this seasonal reproductive pattern. Testes and seminiferous tubule size and plasma testosterone concentration has already started to increase during the coldest months, 2 months prior to reproductive onset in females. We propose that seasonal reproduction evolved in E. myurus because of seasonally changing food availability brought about by severe seasonal changes in rainfall and ambient temperature. The direct effects of rainfall and ambient temperature on reproduction of E. myurus are ambiguous, and we discuss other environmental factors that may trigger reproductive onset in this species.en
dc.description.sponsorshipA South African Research Chair of Mammalian Behavioural Ecology and Physiology awarded to N.C. Bennett by the National Research Foundation (NRF). K. Medger acknowledges a doctoral grant from the NRF.en
dc.description.urihttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1469-7998en
dc.identifier.citationMedger, K, Chimimba, CT & Bennett, NC 2012, 'Seasonal reproduction in the eastern rock elephant-shrew : influenced by rainfall and ambient temperature?', Journal of Zoology, vol. 288, No. 4, pp. 283-293.en
dc.identifier.issn0952-8369 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1469-7998 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00954.x.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/20676
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherWiley-Blackwellen
dc.rights© 2012 The Authors. Journal of Zoology © 2012 The Zoological Society of Londonen
dc.subjectElephantulus myurusen
dc.subjectMacroscelideaen
dc.subjectAfrotheriaen
dc.subjectGonadal growthen
dc.subjectRainy seasonen
dc.subjectAmbient temperatureen
dc.subjectFood availabilityen
dc.subjectSouthern hemisphereen
dc.subject.lcshElephant shrews -- Reproductionen
dc.subject.lcshTheriogenologyen
dc.subject.lcshSexual behavior in animalsen
dc.titleSeasonal reproduction in the eastern rock elephant-shrew : influenced by rainfall and ambient temperature?en
dc.typePostprint Articleen

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