White-footed mice

Haigh G., Cushing B.S. and Bronson F. (1988). A novel post-copulatory block to reproduction in White-footed mice. Biol Reprod 38, 623-626. 

Terman C.R. (1984). Sexual maturation of male and female White-footed Mice influence of physical or urine contact with adults. J Mammal 65, 97-102. 

White-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus whole body, single brief exposure ... 

For our purposes, oaks are important because they drop the acorns that determine how many white-footed mice successfully withstand the harsh winter months. Before winter arrives, however, a multitude of other factors has influenced the number of mice available to gather the acorns. One of these factors is the mice s reproductive activity, and this happens to be under the influence of some peculiar pheromones. Because they contribute to determining the number of mice, these chemicals also enter our story. They are airborne signals present in adult-mouse urine that affect the maturation and reproductive success of young female mice. 

These pheromones increase the reproductive success of older females, but just how consequential they are for white-footed mice is not yet clear. We can reasonably assume that they affect the number and fitness of the mice in the forest and so contribute to our story. Related pheromones regulate reproduction in other species of mice, including common laboratory mice (Mus musculus), which have been studied in considerable detail. Other mice also have additional signals in their urine to advertise their occupancy of a particular area and to communicate their sex, sexual state, and relative age it is likely that white-footed mice make use of such signals as well. 

Learning of the parental odor may be important for odor preferences (Jemiolo etah, 1991). Estrous white-footed mice prefer males of intermediate relatedness, or their odors. The levels of reproductive success (i.e. litter size at weaning and offspring weight at weaning) indicated inbreeding depression. Non-estrous females showed no preferences (Keane, 1990). 

In addition to males, females can also induce pregnancy block. An example is the chemical cue from older, probably dominant, female white-footed mice, P. leucopus Haigh, 1987). 

Great basin pocket mice, Perognathus parvus-, 8.56 Gy, single exposure White-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus] whole body, single brief exposure... 

Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) on Sleeping Times, Plasma Corticosteroids and Testicular Activities of White-footed Mice, Environ. Physiol. Biochem. 5(5) 308-13 (1975). 

A species of white-footed mice, the deer mouse Peromyscus manicidatus) is the most common kind of New World mice, includir around 65 subspecies. Their bodies range in size from 4.75-8.5 in (12-22 cm), and their tails measure between 3.25-7 in (8-18 cm). Deer mice are probably the most abundant mammal in the western United States. These mice eat both plants and inseds and are most active at n ht. 

Jell, D, A., Hill, E, F Fernando, J. C.. Eldefrawi, M, E and Eldefrawi, A. T. (1993). Down regulation of muscarinic receptors and the m3 subtype in white-footed mice by dietary exposure to parathion. J. To.xicol. Environ. Health 39, 395-415. 

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