Mammary glands of pregnant rats: development stimulated by licking.
At the end of gestation, the mamnmary glands of pregnant rats that have been prevented from licking their ventral surfaces by neck collars are about 50-percent less developed than those of control animals. Neither the burden nor the stress ejfect of the collar is an alternative explanation. A considerable proportion of mammary development during pregnancy is thus caused by the female's own licking.
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology*; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000254:growth & development*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats