Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Winter 1986

Publication Title

Virginia Journal of Science

Volume

37

Issue

4

Pages

230-239

Abstract

Patterns of reproduction in small mammals in Virginia were examined by autopsying samples of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) collected for 23 months near Charlottesville, of hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) collected for 14 months in Portsmouth, and by evaluating live-caught eastern harvest mice (Reithrodontomys humulis) trapped for 15 months in Suffolk and for 12 months in Chesapeake. The meadow vole, a microtine rodent with a north temperate and sub-arctic distribution throughout North America, suspended breeding during the winter of peak density but not of declining density. High metabolic rates and other adaptations for winter seem to permit frequent production of young then. However, both Sigmodon and Reithrodontomys are subtropical species, and in Virginia are living at and near the northern limits of their distributions, respectively. Sigmodon suspends breeding in mid-autumn and resumes reproduction in late spring in eastern Virginia. The breeding season is slightly longer in Reithrodontomys. Low metabolic rates, lack of development of adaptive behaviors, and other features seem to preclude winter reproduction in theses species with evolutionary histories in the tropics.

Comments

This reference was downloaded from the Biodiversity Heritage Library, which hosts volumes of the Virginia Journal of Science (VJS) earlier than Volume 50, 1999. ODU Digital Commons hosts VJS volumes 50 through the present, available here: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/.

Rights

Article is open access under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).

Original Publication Citation

Rose, R. K. (1986). Reproductive strategies of meadow voles, hispid cotton rats, and eastern harvest mice. Virginia Journal of Science, 37(4), 230-239. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/270775#page/234/mode/1up

ORCID

0000-0001-9341-1615

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