Inhibition of infanticide in male Swiss mice: behavioral polymorphism in response to multiple mediating factors.
The socio-sexual factors mediating the inhibition of pup-killing in previously infanticidal Swiss Webster male mice (Mus domesticus) were examined. As reported in other studies, postmating co-habitation (i.e., physical contact) with a female during pregnancy suppress pup-killing but the present experiments also showed that several factors are implicated in this phenomenon, namely: 1) Postcopulatory sensory contact (i.e., behind a wire-mesh partition) with the pregnant mate was sufficient to inhibit infanticide virtually in all the subjects. Copulation seems to function as a "primer," but cues, most likely of an olfactory nature, emitted by pregnant mate induce paternal behavior in the stud male. In fact, either copulation followed by sensory contact with a nonpregnant mate (abortion was induced) or sensory contact without copulation with a pregnant female did not suppress pup-killing in the majority of cases. 2) Mating, per se, is capable of inhibiting infanticide in a minority of males. 3) Physical contact with a parturient female (impregnated by another male) at the time of pup delivery inhibited infanticide in approximately 40-50% of males. The data essentially show that, in a house mouse population, there is a behavioral polymorphism in response to the coexisting multiple mechanisms which mediate the inhibition of infanticide.
Palanza
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Dipartimento di Biologia e Fisiologia Generali, Università di Parma, Italy.
Parmigiani
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D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002190:Cannibalism / Q000523:psychology*; D003307:Copulation; D004291:Dominance-Subordination; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012931:Social Environment; D013731:Territoriality