Summary
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1.
Infanticidal behavior was examined in wild-strain male house mice (Mus musculus). Preliminary studies established that male house mice killed significantly more unrelated than related pups. Several factors influencing a male's tendency to kill unrelated young were then systematically investigated. Independent variables included the length of time a male cohabited with a pregnant female (10, 6, 3, or 1 days), the phenotype of the unrelated offspring (wild or albino), and whether the male copulated with an estrous female before cohabiting with a pregnant female. In the latter case, the estrous female was ‘painted’ with urine from the pregnant female with which the male was later paired. The dependent variable in all cases was pup survival to five days postpartum.
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Males which copulated before cohabitation killed significantly fewer young than males which did not mate. Increased length of cohabitation significantly reduced infanticide by males which mated, but did not affect the number of pups killed by males which did not copulate. Offspring phenotype was not an important factor in preventing infanticide.
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Labov, J.B. Factors influencing infanticidal behavior in wild male house mice (Mus musculus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 6, 297–303 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292772
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292772