Dietary influences in the preferences of pre-weanling Long-Evans rats for the anal excreta of adult males.
Male rats which ingest feces of lactating females produce anal excreta which is attractive to pups. This excreta is as attractive as that of lactating females and more attractive than the excreta of males eating a diet of lab chow only. Anal excreta of males which consume feces of lactating females is more attractive to pups than excreta of males that consume feces of nonlactating females. These results suggest that group or colony odors may develop from rats eating feces of other colony members and that infant rats may be more attracted to adults that have an odor which is similar to the maternal odor than adults which have different odors.
D000818:Animals; D003303:Coprophagia; D004032:Diet; D005243:Feces; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains