Measuring rates of sexual development in female Mongolian gerbils

In previous experiments, we have shown that age at vaginal introitus predicts adult patterns of reproductive, maternal, and aggressive behavior of female Mongolian gerbils. In the present series of studies, we explored the relationship in gerbils between age at vaginal patency and three other indices of rate of female sexual development: ovarian weight, occurrence of vaginal estrus, and onset of attractiveness to males. We found that female …