Genetical studies on the skeleton of the mouse - XXVIII. Tail-short

This paper is dedicated to Professor L. C. Dunn (Columbia University, New York) in recognition of his long and distinguished career. Mice heterozygous for the Ts gene have shorter tails and smaller bodies than their normal litter-mates. A study of their anatomy revealed skeletal abnormalities of various kinds scattered over the whole body. These abnormalities can be traced back to 11-day embryos, and are always accompanied by anaemia (which disappears before birth) and the consequent retardation. The anaemia in turn can be traced back still further to a deficiency of blood islands in the yolk sac of 8-day embryos. It is suggested that the primary effect of the gene is anaemia, which, acting through differential retardation of various organs, leads to the abnormalities seen later.