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1 July 2016 Timing of breeding and second litters in edible dormouse (Glis glis)
Anežka Holcová Gazárková, Peter Adamík
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Abstract

In temperate zone the edible dormouse (Glis glis) is an obligate hibernator with a relatively short activity season during the summer. Young are born in seed-masting years, mostly in early August and there is a time constraint as they have to reach independence and sufficient body mass prior to hibernation into which they enter from late September to October. Given the seasonal time constraints, only one litter per year is known to occur in this rodent. Here we report on the timing of breeding in a Czech population of edible dormouse and on two proven cases when females produced two litters per season. Both cases concern very early breeding females which had lost their first litters prior to weaning. The second (replacement) litters were born late in the season and they were successfully weaned. We discuss that probably several factors like female condition, field research design or current phenological trends in extended growing seasons could lead to multiple breeding events in this species.

Anežka Holcová Gazárková and Peter Adamík "Timing of breeding and second litters in edible dormouse (Glis glis)," Folia Zoologica 65(2), 165-168, (1 July 2016). https://doi.org/10.25225/fozo.v65.i2.a12.2016
Received: 12 April 2016; Accepted: 1 June 2016; Published: 1 July 2016
KEYWORDS
Breeding season
fat dormouse
multiple breeding
reproductive failure
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