Visual stimulation and ovulation in pigeons

作者：Leonard Harrison Matthews · 发表于：Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · 年份：1939 · DOI：10.1098/rspb.1939.0008 · 被引用次数：64 · 研究领域：Plant and animal studies、Animal Nutrition and Physiology、Plant Reproductive Biology

Abstract It has long been known that the female pigeon, unlike the carefully selected domestic hen, does not ovulate spontaneously. Harper (1904) showed that in pigeons ovulation occurs not less than 8 days after the introduction of the male to a female when both are ready for mating. He further recorded that two female pigeons when confined together may both take to laying eggs. The act of mating therefore is not necessary to induce ovulation, the mere presence of a companion sufficing. This exteroceptive stimulus to ovulation is usually regarded as exerting its influence through the pituitary. The experiment described in this paper was designed to show whether the stimulus is visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile or a combination of two or more of these alternatives. The essential part of the experiment carried the confining of two females together a stage further. Two birds were confined in adjacent cages separated by a sheet of glass, and single birds were confined by themselves but provided with a mirror. The birds were thus supplied with companions to which they had not tactile access.