Bipedal posture in rats and its effect on litter size.
Sixty female rats were divided into three groups: twenth were converted to bipeds, twenty to asymmetrics and twenty were raised as a control group. Results of this study show reduction in litter size in the amputated groups, with greater reduction of offspring among the biped group, than in the asymmetric group. The cause of this phenomenon is not clear, but the erect posture and its higher pressure imposed on uterus, and stressed coitus, are the main factors suggested for these disorders.
D000818:Animals; D003307:Copulation; D005260:Female; D005552:Forelimb / Q000502:physiology*; D008098:Litter Size; D011187:Posture; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D012098:Reproduction; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014599:Uterus / Q000502:physiology