Behavioral comparisons of male and female pups of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus)

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-246
Author(s):  
Betty McGuire ◽  
William E. Bemis
Keyword(s):  
Microtus Ochrogaster ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Male And Female

Parental behaviour of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus) in relation to sex of offspring

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty McGuire ◽  
William E. Bemis ◽  
Francoise Vermeylen
Keyword(s):  
Litter Size ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Prairie Vole ◽  
Microtus Ochrogaster ◽  
Meadow Vole ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Offspring Sex

Monogamous parents are predicted to invest equally in male and female offspring whereas polygynous parents in good condition are predicted to invest more in male than female offspring. Sex-biased parental investment can occur in three ways: (1) mothers and fathers invest different amounts of care in their offspring (effect of parent sex); (2) parents invest different amounts of care in male and female offspring (effect of offspring sex); and (3) one parent, but not the other, invests different amounts of care in male and female offspring (interaction between parent sex and offspring sex). Studies of parent–offspring interactions in rodents have focused on either effect of parent sex or effect of offspring sex, but not the interaction between parent sex and offspring sex, and most studies have examined only one species. We studied prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), a monogamous species, and meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus), a polygynous (or promiscuous) species, under laboratory conditions designed to simulate field conditions. For each species, we recorded the frequency and duration with which mothers and fathers licked their male and female offspring. We found that meadow vole fathers licked male offspring for longer durations than female offspring. However, prairie vole fathers, prairie vole mothers, and meadow vole mothers did not lick male and female pups for different durations. From the standpoint of the pups, male prairie vole pups, female prairie vole pups, and female meadow vole pups were licked for longer durations by their mothers than by their fathers. In contrast, for male meadow vole pups there was no difference in the duration with which they were licked by mothers and fathers. We also detected effects of litter size: as litter size increased, the frequency and duration of pup licking decreased for mothers and increased for fathers. For duration (but not frequency) of pup licking, these changes were more dramatic in meadow voles than in prairie voles. Our data are generally consistent with predictions that monogamous parents, such as prairie voles, should invest equally in male and female offspring whereas polygynous (or promiscuous) parents, such as meadow voles, should invest more in male offspring when conditions are favourable. Our data also highlight the complexity of parent–offspring interactions in rodents and emphasize the need to examine whether male and female offspring within a species differ in their behaviour or ability to obtain parental care.

Familiarity and gender influence social preferences in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Courtney DeVries ◽  
Camron L. Johnson ◽  
C. Sue Carter
Keyword(s):  
Social Preference ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Group Cohesion ◽  
Gonadal Hormones ◽  
Microtus Ochrogaster ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Sex Preferences ◽  
Opposite Sex

The physiological mechanisms influencing group cohesion and social preferences are largely unstudied in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). In nature, prairie vole family groups usually consist of an adult male and female breeding pair, one or more litters of their offspring, and occasionally unrelated adults. Pair bonds, defined by heterosexual preferences, develop in male and female prairie voles following cohabitation or mating. However, social preferences between members of the same sex also may be important to the maintenance of communal groups. In the present study we compared the development of social preferences for conspecific strangers of the same sex versus preferences for the opposite sex, and examined the effect of the gonadal status of the stimulus animal on initial social preference. The present study revealed that reproductively naive males, but not females, showed initial preferences for partners of the opposite sex. In both sexes preferences for the opposite sex were not influenced by the presence or absence of gonadal hormones. Heterosexual and same-sex preferences for a familiar individual formed following 24 h of nonsexual cohabitation in both males and females. Male and female same-sex preferences, however, were no longer stable when the stranger in the preference test was of the opposite sex to the experimental animal. The development of same-sex preferences may help to maintain group cohesion, but same-sex preferences formed by cohabitation do not withstand the challenge of an opposite-sex stranger.

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