| dc.description | Although males of monogamous species show more parental behavior than those of polygynous species, studies of parental behavior in rodents generally provide ad lib food and water in a warm environment and under these conditions the presence of the male has little or no effect on pup survival and development. I examined paternal care in a polygynous species, the house mouse and a monogamous species, the California mouse, when wheel running was necessary to obtain food. Single mothers (Father Absent) and paired mothers (Father Present) were compared under three different foraging requirements. In both species, Father Present groups weaned significantly more pups than Father Absent groups when wheel running was required for obtaining food (Wheel Contingent). There were no significant effects of the father's presence on pup survival in the No Wheel (standard laboratory housing with ad lib food) or Wheel Noncontingent groups (running wheel with ad lib food). Pup weight was lower in the Wheel Contingent group than in the other two groups but the father's presence had no significant affect on pup weight in either species. Mice in both the Father Absent and Father Present groups showed parental behavior in the light phase and wheel running in the dark phase of the LD cycle. Fathers directly facilitated pup survival by spending as much time in parental care as mothers and indirectly by running on the wheel to earn more food than they consumed in both species. M. musculus fathers may have engaged in parental behavior because they were paired with only one female and male parental behavior may not be observed if they were housed with several females. These results suggest that paternal care benefits pup survival more under conditions where the parents must forage to obtain food than in the standard laboratory environment where food is provided ad lib. | en_US |
