PARENT-OFFSPRING DISCRIMINATION IN THE PRAIRIE VOLE AND THE EFFECTS OF ODORS AND DIET

The objectives of this study on the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster ) were to determine whether (i) parents are able to distinguish their own young from alien young, (ii) conspecific odors influence parent-of fspring discrimination, and (iii) diet affects the cues used in parent -offspring discrimination. Parent-offspring discrimination was inferre d from differential behaviors directed by adults towards their own off spring and alien offspring. In experiment i, parent-offspring dyads sh owed high frequencies of cohesive behaviors and low frequencies of ago nistic behaviors, while dyads of adults and alien offspring showed sig nificantly more agonistic and fewer cohesive behaviors. In experiment 2, dyads of parents with their own offspring were tested in an arena c ontaining their own soiled shavings, soiled shavings from another fami ly, or clean shavings. Dyads engaged in significantly fewer investigat ory behaviors and more cohesive behaviors when tested with their own f amiliar odors than when tested with unfamiliar odors or odors from cle an shavings. In experiment 3, we tested dyads of unrelated adults and young that had been fed either the same or different dietary supplemen ts. There were no significant differences in the frequencies of invest igatory, cohesive, or agonistic behaviors in dyads fed the same diet a nd those fed a different diet.