Males' non-enhancement of bruce and whitten effects in female albino mice - <i>Mus musculus</i>

Abstract

This study investigated whether strange males in Bruce and Whitten effec s also include males placed in the same cage with females. Forty albino mice (25 females and 15 males) were used for the study. The mice were divided into five groups (A - E) with five females each, and 5 4, 3 2 and 1 male(s) respectively. During both first and second rounds of matings, all the females conceived and littered successfully. In both rounds of matings, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the mean number of matings before conception, mean gestation length and mean weight of new-born among all the female groups. However, the second round of matings recorded a higher mean number of matings before conception, greater mean weight of new-born and slightly longer gestation length than the first round. In both rounds, group E females had a significantly (p < 0.05) longer mean length of time before conception than group C females, but did not differ from groups A, B and D Generally all the groups in second round exhibited longer period before conception than in the first round. In the first round of matings, both the mean litter size and group weights o B and E were signi icant y (p<0.05) lower than that of group D, whereas in the second round, there was no significant difference (p>0.05)

in both mean litter size and weight among all the five groups. Results showed that male mice placed in the same cage with female mice were not seen as strange by the females.

Keywords: Bruce and Whitten effects, Albino mice, Strange, Pheromones