HEREDITARY ACHONDROPLASIA IN THE RABBIT : I. PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND GENERAL FEATURES

An achondroplastic condition in the rabbit has been described. It is present at birth and is characterized by size reduction, by a disproportion of bodily parts, most marked in the extremities, and by an invariably lethal effect. The animals are still-born or die very shortly after birth. In physical appearance and in the character of the skeletal changes as shown by x-ray photographs, achondroplasia in the rabbit has a remarkable resemblance to the disease in man and in cattle and dogs. The condition which first occurred in offspring of pure bred Havana rabbits is inherited. In anticipation of the later discussion of this phase of the study (13), it can be stated that the mode of inheritance is on the basis of a simple recessive unit factor and that the appearance of non-achondroplastic transmitters (heterozygotes) is that of normal animals.