Hydroxyurea was given to pregnant rhesus monkeys and pregnant rats in regimens adjusted to produce similar degrees of teratogenicity, for the purpose of comparing the distribution of the drug in the females and their embryos. According, in rats 137 mg/kg/day ip on days 9-12 resulted in a drug half-life in maternal plasma of about 15 min and in embryos about 85 min, after the last injection; and in monkeys 100 mg/kg/days iv on days 23-32 resulted in drug half-life in maternal plasma estimated to be 120 min and in embryos 265 min, after the last injection. Using as a baseline of biological effects the minimal concentration known to inhibit DNA synthesis in rat embryos and cancer cells, namely 10(-4) M, it was calculated that the rat embryos in the present study were exposed to this level or more for approximately 12 h whereas the monkey embryos were exposed for approximately 100 h. Although the teratogenic effects were not identical in the two species, these data are interpreted to mean that rat embryos are teratogenically much more sensitive to hydroxyurea than monkey embryos. These observations have important implications in the selection of appropriate species for tests to estimate human teratogenic risks. The rat, which is currently the most widely used animal for such tests, displays sizeable differences from rhesue monkeys, which is one of the animals thought to be most like man in teratogenic susceptibility.