Observations on the gestation period of the rabbit

✍ Scribed by Rosahn, Paul D. ;Greene, Harry S. N. ;Hu, Ch'Uan-K'Uei

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1935
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 911 KB
• Volume: 72
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1400720110

✦ Synopsis

ONE FIGURE

Although the rabbit has been used extensively in recent investigations on the physiology of reproduction, comparatively little information has appeared concerning the normal gestation period of this species of small laboratory animal. Hammond ('25) reported on the mean duration of pregnancy in 296 rabbits of the Belgian hare type. He found that 95 per cent of all observations fell between 30 and 34 days. Other authors refer to the gestation period of the rabbit variously as 30, 31 or 32 days. I n connection with the studies on constitution which have been in progress in this laboratory during the past several years, and in order to arrive at a precise estimation of the duration of pregnancy in the rabbit, the pertinent data obtained from a large breeding colony have been subjected to a biometrical analysis. The results of this analysis form the basis of the present report.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

FIRST MdTINC.

LAST XATING TABLE 1 1257 pregnancies with viable issue in twelve groups of rabbits