title: Influence of sexual experience and social environment on fertility and incidence of mating in young female bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus).
abstract: Between 30 and 40 days of age, female bank voles were kept singly, in female pairs, separated from an adult male by a wire mesh, or paired with a vasectomized male. At Day 40 they were paired with adult intact males. Fertility at the first mating was low (22-25%), but if the females had previously mated with the vasectomized male fertility of the subsequent mating with the intact male was significantly increased (63%). Sterile matings therefore had a priming effect on the females, and could be important for the development of puberty in wild females. Only 55-59% of the females without contact with males between Days 30 and 40 mated with the fertile male. Contact with a male through a wire mesh increased the proportion to 80% and co-habitation with a vasectomized male to 94%. In the last group, mating also occurred at a younger age.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000502:physiology*; D003307:Copulation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D012931:Social Environment