Reproductive behavior of the guinea pig. I. The normal mating behavior.

Male-female associations in the domestic guinea pig

“…For Groups lA, II, III, IlIA, IV, V, and VA, individual behaviors included in the sequence were recorded each time they appeared. Unless otherwise noted the behaviors scored here follow Louttit (1927). They include: Licking (and sniffing or nibbling target animal's anogenital region), pursuit, nosing (or nibbling fur), rumbling (or purring), swaying, circling, jumping over female, rumping, rump attempt (Jacobs, 1973), kissing, nibbling (or biting) ear, chin-rump-follow (Rood, 1972), perineal drag (Kunkel & Kunkel, 1964) during courtship (mark), supracaudal rub (Jacobs, 1973), mounting, disoriented (atypical, head or side orientation) mounts, pelvic thrusts (pelvic movements), intromission (copulatory strokes) and ejaculation.…”

“…The topographies of the male guinea pig's courtship and/or sexual behaviors have been described many times (e.g., Avery, 1925;Louttit, 1927;Young & Grunt, 1951). The inheritance of these behaviors has been studied (Jakway, 1959) and the effects of early isolation on male sexual behavior have been reported (e.g., Gerall, 1963;Harper, 1968;Valenstein, Riss, & Young, 1955).…”

“…The occurrence of these behaviors when no receptive females are present has received two explanations. Males who court nonreceptive females have been thought to be either (1) searching for receptive females by trial and error (Avery, 1925;Loeb & Lathrop, 1914;Louttit, 1927), or (2) inexperienced and low-ranked animals, that in time or with a better social situation would restrict their attentions to receptive females (King, 1956;Kunkel & Kunkel, 1964). Recent reports have suggested that the number of courtship bouts performed by males in a group is positively correlated with the position in the dominance order Rood, 1972).…”

The Oestrous Cycle in the Mongolian Gerbil, Meriones Unguiculatus

“…The mating behaviour of the Mongolian gerbil resembles that of other rodents in its essentials (Stone, 1922;Louttit, 1927;Reed & Reed, 1946;Wimer & Fuller, 1966; Kuehn & Zucker, 1966). A series of mounts with intromissions culminates in ejaculation, which is followed by a period of grooming and sexual refractoriness.…”

Effects of rearing on homosexual behavior in the male laboratory rat

“…Avery (1925) and Loutitt (1927) found homosexual mounts common in male guinea pigs caged together. Segregated male laboratory rats were reported to "attempt a complete copulatory act" prior to heterosexual intercourse (Stone, 1922,p.…”