BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 March 2018 FECAL PROGESTERONE METABOLITES IN POSTPARTUM SIBERIAN FLYING SQUIRRELS
Tatsuki Shimamoto, Kei K. Suzuki, Mizuho Hamada, Ryuji Furukawa, Motozumi Matsui, Hisashi Yanagawa
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) produces up to two litters a year. To deliver second litters in breeding season, P. volans may have a postpartum estrus similarly to that of a variety of small mammals. If this were the case, females would have periods of elevated progesterone levels because of the formation of corpora lutea (CL) after postpartum ovulation. To test this hypothesis, fecal progesterone metabolite dynamics was investigated during lactation in this species using an enzyme immunoassay. In five of the six lactating females, periods of high fecal progesterone metabolite concentration were observed, and, furthermore, progesterone secretion patterns were periodic. Therefore, the source of progesterone during lactation could be arising CL from postpartum ovulation, indicating that ovarian activity was reinitiated after parturition and the CL that formed began secreting progesterone. This study thus showed that P. volans likely has the physiologic potential to mate during lactation.

Copyright 2018 by American Association of Zoo Veterinarians
Tatsuki Shimamoto, Kei K. Suzuki, Mizuho Hamada, Ryuji Furukawa, Motozumi Matsui, and Hisashi Yanagawa "FECAL PROGESTERONE METABOLITES IN POSTPARTUM SIBERIAN FLYING SQUIRRELS," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 49(1), 237-241, (1 March 2018). https://doi.org/10.1638/2016-0273R2.1
Accepted: 1 November 2017; Published: 1 March 2018
KEYWORDS
enzyme immunoassay
fecal progesterone metabolites
postpartum ovarian cycles
reproductive strategy
Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans)
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top