Postpartum maintenance of paternal behaviour in the biparental California mouse, Peromyscus californicus

Abstract. Most knowledge of the mechanisms underlying parental behaviour in mammals is derived from studies of maternal behaviour. Male parental care and its proximate causation has been less well studied. The maintenance of paternal and maternal behaviour in the biparental California mouse was investigated by removing the pups and/or mate on the day of birth and testing parents individually on day 3 or day 5 postpartum for 10 min with a 1- to 3-day-oid alien pup. Pup presence maintained maternal responsiveness but was not essential for continuation of paternal care. Presence of the father had no effect on maternal care. In contrast, presence of the mother maintained paternal responsiveness. Direct physical contact between mother and father was not necessary for maintenance of paternal behaviour. Maternal excreta were sufficient to keep fathers parental The study of parent-offspring relations has pro- base on the proximate causation of paternal beha-gressed theoretically, conceptually and empirically viour for both our basic understanding of relations (for reviews see Gubernick & Klopfer 1981; Rosen- between fathers and offspring and for theories of blum & Moltz 1983). Most empirical knowledge of the evolution of paternal investment and parent-mammalian parent-young relations is based pri- offspring relations. marily upon studies of mothers and infants. The present report is part of an ongoing analysis Emphasis on maternal-filial interactions may limit of parental behaviour and its proximate causation our view of parent-offspring relations, since the through investigation of the biparental care system father, as well as other conspecifics, can provide of the California mouse, Peromyscus californicus nurturance to the young (Wilson 197