PARENTAL INVESTMENT IN SOCIAL VOLES VARIES AND IS RELATIVELY INDEPENDENT OF LITTER SIZE

In order to ascertain the typical pattern and amount of parental care in the social vole (Microtus socialis guentheri) as well as the individual investment of the female, male, or both parents simultaneously, we studied ten primiparous females and their mates. Results revealed that out of seven pare...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of mammalogy 2004-08, Vol.85 (4), p.748-755
Main Authors: Libhaber, Noga, Eilam, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal ethology
Animal parental behavior
Animal reproduction
Animal social behavior
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
crouching
FEATURE ARTICLES
Female animals
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
kyphosis
licking
Litter size
Male animals
Mammalia
Mammals
maternal behavior
Mating behavior
Microtus socialis
Microtus socialis guentheri paternal behavior
Nipples
Offspring
Parental investment
Parents
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
retrieving
Vertebrata
Voles
Zoology
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Summary:In order to ascertain the typical pattern and amount of parental care in the social vole (Microtus socialis guentheri) as well as the individual investment of the female, male, or both parents simultaneously, we studied ten primiparous females and their mates. Results revealed that out of seven parental behaviors, only crouching was correlated with litter size, suggesting that parental care was relatively independent of litter size—that is, duration of time spent with the young, licking them, retrieving them to the nest, having them attached to the female's nipples, and searching for a nipple on the male were not correlated with litter size. Individual investment of caretakers also varied, with no typical proportion of shared nurturing by the female and male. Accordingly, overall parental investment varied greatly among different sets of parents without correlation to the relative contribution of the female, the male, or both. Finally, duration and frequency of most parental behaviors declined over the course of postnatal development. Altogether, these data suggest a surplus parental investment that was probably not required for survival of offspring but might have evolved either for other purposes such as the formation of social bonds or was selected for in captivity.
ISSN:0022-2372
1545-1542
DOI:10.1644/BNS-011