Ml. Phillips et Z. Tangmartinez, PARENT-OFFSPRING DISCRIMINATION IN THE PRAIRIE VOLE AND THE EFFECTS OF ODORS AND DIET, Canadian journal of zoology, 76(4), 1998, pp. 711-716
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.