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Do sires and juvenile male mice (C57BL/6) contribute to the rearing of the offspring?

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Abstract

Copulation and/or cohabitation with a pregnant female facilitate paternal behavior in male mice. However, their contribution to the rearing of the offspring is still not well understood. Our aims were to investigate the behavior of sires toward own or alien pups; the immediate consequences of the presence of fathers on the offspring and the behavior of the mother; and whether the exposure of juvenile males to newborn siblings, in an overlapping litters context, facilitates paternal behavior in C57BL/6 mice. We found that sires behaved paternally toward alien pups at both postpartum days 3 and 7; did not affect the behavior of the mother (e.g., licking and grooming, retrieval behavior, time in the nest, and crouching postures); and reduced the time offspring stayed alone in the nest. The exposure to newborn siblings did not promote paternal behavior in juvenile males. Therefore, sires are more paternal than usually described in the literature for laboratory mice, suggesting a facultative role in the rearing of the offspring. However, juvenile male mice, in contrast to juvenile females, could be adapted to leave the nest earlier without major contribution to the offspring.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the Animal Facility of the Facultad de Medicina for providing care to our animals and the appropriate conditions to carry out these experiments.

Funding

The present study was supported by PEDECIBA and research grants to D.E.O. and M.A (1452) by the Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica (CSIC), UdelaR.

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  1. Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, UdelaR, Av. Gral. Flores 2125, 11800, Montevideo, Uruguay

    M Alsina-Llanes & DE Olazábal

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  1. M Alsina-Llanes
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  2. DE Olazábal
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Correspondence to DE Olazábal.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Alsina-Llanes, M., Olazábal, D. Do sires and juvenile male mice (C57BL/6) contribute to the rearing of the offspring?. acta ethol 21, 185–193 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-018-0299-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-018-0299-2

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