Word: bursarius
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
What made the little critter (Geomys bursarius) so fascinating to Scientist Hisaw was the nature of its pregnancy. To get around in its narrow burrows the animal has to have narrow hips, and its pubic bones are compressed, leaving an opening too small to let a female deliver its young. But millions of pocket-gopher squeals testify that the female can deliver. In 1925 Dr. Hisaw discovered how: during pregnancy the female pocket gopher secretes a hormone that causes part of the pubic bones to dissolve, leaving a wider opening. Hisaw named the hormone "relaxin" (TIME, April...
| 1 |