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Organismal Biology - Physiology

John D. Harder

Associate Professor

392 Aronoff Laboratory

318 West 12th Avenue

Columbus, Ohio 43210

Phone: 614-292-8636

Fax: 614-292-2030

E-mail: harder.2@osu.edu

Education: B.S. Hastings College (1965) M.Sc. Colorado State University (1967) Ph.D. The Ohio State University (1971)

Brief Description of Research Interests

Animal Reproductive Biology

Detailed Research Interests

I study the reproductive biology of mammals. Marsupial and eutherian mammals exhibit fundamental differences in reproductive strategies that have prompted my field and laboratory studies of white-tailed deer, tammar wallabies, red howler monkeys, hamsters, opossums, and most recently, white rhinoceros. Current topics of study include:  Sexual differentiation and olfactory communication in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) and reproductive endocrinology and social behavior in female white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum).  Reproductive performance of captive-born female rhinos held in zoos is poor, and a current project is designed to assess the role of the captive environment and social stress on sexual development of females.  The gray short-tailed opossum, a small (60-150 g) pouchless marsupial native to Brazil, is particularly useful for the study of olfactory regulation of reproductive processes, because females lack an estrous cycle and are reliant on nonvolatile male pheromone for reproductive activation.  Analytical procedures established in our lab include immunocytochemistry of neural tissue, measurement of reproductive hormone concentrations in blood and feces, and the analysis of olfactory and social behavior.  A common goal in our studies of rhinos and opossums is understanding the relationships between social behavior, reproductive processes, and the underlying endocrinology.

CV

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Key Citations

Vitazka, M.E., Cardenas, H., Cruz, Y., Fadem, B.H., Norfolk, J.R., and Harder, J.D. 2008.  Progesterone receptor in the forebrain of  female gray short-tailed opossums:  Effects of male stimuli.  Hormones and Behavior 54:  In press.

Harder, J.D., L.M. Jackson, D.C. Keoster. 2008. Behavioral and reproductive responses of female opossums to volatile and nonvolatile components of male suprasternal gland secretion.  Hormones and Behavior 54: 741-747.

North, LA. and J.D. Harder.  2008.  Characterization of the estrous cycle and assessment of reproductive status in Matschie’s tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus matschiei) with fecal progestin profiles. General and Comparative Endocrinology 156:173-180.

Kraly, CL, Yu, E, Harder, JD (2007).  The challenges of ovariectomy on the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica).  J. Amer. Assoc. Lab. Anim. Sci  46:90-91.

Harder, J.D.  2005. Reproduction and hormones.  p 591-615 in C.E.Braun, ed.  Techniques for wildlife investigations and management.  Sixth Edition., The Wildlife Soc.  Bethesda, MD.

Courses

Mammalogy (EEOB 625) - Winter Quarter Conservation Biology (EEOB 661) - Autumn Quarter Seminars in Reproductive Biology (EEOB 881) - Spring Quarter

Lab Group

Graduate Students:

Jessica Hall | Lara Metrione

Undergraduate Students:

Kristi Akehurst | Linda Katirji

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