Stress and fluctuating limb asymmetry in various species of rodents.

Recent studies have shown that the dentition of rodents responds to stress, evidenced by an increase in fluctuating asymmetry. In the present study, three known stressors, noise, cold and behavioral modification, were employed in evaluating the effects of stress on limb asymmetry. None of the stressors employed produced significant increases in fluctuating limb asymmetry except in the humerus. As teeth are highly genetically determined and bone highly responsive to function, these results suggest a stress-related interference in the synchronization of genetically stable structures.