A WALTZING RABBIT' 



Leon J. Cole and Dewev G. Steele 

 Department of Genetics, Wisconsin Acp'icuUiiral Experiment Station, Madison 



AMONG a litter of four rabbits 

 born February 14th, 1916, one 

 later developed the habit of 

 "waltzing" very much as is charac- 

 teristic of the waltzing mouse. The 

 peculiar actions of this animal were 

 so pronounced and continuous as to 

 attract the attention of all visitors. 

 Darbishire early demonstrated the 

 definite inheritance of this trait in the 

 mouse, and when a similar condition 

 was later discovered in rats by Bon- 

 hote," this also was found to be in- 

 herited as a Mendelian recessive. 



It at once became a matter of in- 

 terest, therefore, to find whether we 

 had another case of the same sort in 

 rabbits. This led to a careful study 

 of the pedigree of this individual for 

 a clue as to how the trait may have 

 originated, and to extensive breeding 

 tests ; but before giving these it will 

 probably be best to describe more 

 fully the individual himself and his 

 behavior. 



Walt::er, as he came to be called (or 

 5301.3 of the records) was a strong, 

 vigorous male of normal growth, but 

 with a defective iris in the left eye 

 and a tendency to carry the head 

 turned a little to one side, the left. 

 The iris of the left eye was incom- 

 plete on the lower side, making the 

 pupil appear elongated vertically. It 

 was probably the close approach of 

 the pupil to the lower lid in this eye 

 that gave it the appearance of always 

 being partially closed (compare the 



two views, which show the right 

 and left sides of the animal, respec- 

 tively). In temperament Waltser 

 seemed more nervous than the aver- 

 age rabbit, and if disturbed or ex- 

 cited in any way would usually turn 

 round and round in his pen in a nar- 

 row circle not much greater in di- 

 ameter than the length of his body. 

 He also often exhibited the circus 

 movement of his own accord when 

 not disturbed, but was able to hop 

 ahead in a straight line when it 

 seemed to suit his pleasure. When 

 traveling directly in this way he did 

 not exhibit the "wobbly" movements 

 so characteristic of the waltzing mice. 

 While he circled to the left (counter 

 clockwise) much more often than to 

 the right, he did, nevertheless, often 

 turn in the other direction. This rab- 

 bit also frequently made a peculiar 

 low grunting noise, different from any 

 commonly made by rabbits. 



Waltzer's Ancestors 



The pedigree of Waltzer (Chart I) 

 exhibits a number of points of con- 

 siderable interest. Three generations 

 back in his paternal lineage he traces 

 to two original pure-bred Dutch- 

 marked rabbits ( 5 I4-I and $15.1). 

 purchased of a breeder who made a 

 specialty of them. It is to be noted 

 that the male (14.1) was used in con- 

 nection with experiments on the ef- 

 fects of alcohol," and is accordingly 

 marked "alcoholized." Male 20.2, one 



' Papers from the Department of Genetics, Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 No. 2,7- Published with the approval of the Director of the Station. 



^BoNHOTE, J. Lewis. On waltzing rats. Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 1912, pp. 6-7. It is 

 of interest in the present connection to note Bonhotc's report that "apart from the 'waltzing' 

 character, three individuals were born blind, and in two of these cases the eyes were un- 

 developed and the optic nerve absent, and in addition many of the young that were reared 

 were so weakly that they had to be killed, and others died before being weaned." 



" Cole, L. J., and C. L. Davis. "The eiifect of alcohol on the male germ cells, studied 

 by means of double matings." Science (N. S.), Vol. 39, No. 1004, pp. A7(>-77- IPM- 



291 



