Sexual dimorphism in the vomeronasal system of the rabbit.

Abstract Studies have shown that the vomeronasal system (VNS), an olfactory neural network that participates in the control of reproductive physiology and behavior, is sexually dimorphic in the rat. These works have also shown two main characteristics of brain sexual dimorphism: (a) dimorphism appears in neural networks related to reproduction and (b) it can present two morphological patterns: one in which males present greater morphological measures than females (male > female) and another in which the opposite is true (female > male). The present work extends the hypothesis to the rabbit, as a representative species of Lagomorpha. In addition, the locus coeruleus (LC), which is known to s…