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Contact-promoting behavior, social development, and relationship with parents in sibling juvenile degus (Octodon
Insights
Paternal presence in degu rodent families influences infant socialization, with fathers spending less time with young but increasing interactions. Paternal control may reduce juvenile social behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Ethology
- Behavioral Ecology
- Mammalian Social Behavior
Background:
- Parent-offspring interactions are crucial for infant development and socialization.
- Understanding the specific roles of mothers and fathers in rodent socialization provides insights into mammalian family dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe infant socialization in captive degu (Octodon degus) parent-young units.
- To examine the ontogenetic trends of parent-young contact and social interaction from postnatal Days 1 to 46.
- To investigate the impact of paternal presence on infant social behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Observational study of Octodon degus parent-young units.
- Quantification of parent-young contact (huddling, squatting) and social interaction (body nosing, accompanying behaviors).
- Comparison of social behaviors in young raised with and without paternal cohabitation.
Main Results:
- Fathers spent less time in contact with young compared to mothers.
- Mother-young contact decreased postnatally, while mother-young and father-young social interactions increased.
- Sibling interactions also showed a continuous increase.
- Father-young interactions were dominated by the father.
- Young with fathers huddled less with mothers and engaged in less body-nosing.
- Paternal presence appeared to curb juvenile interactions.
Conclusions:
- Paternal involvement in degu socialization is characterized by less contact but increasing interaction, with a tendency towards paternal dominance.
- Paternal presence can modulate infant social behaviors, potentially by limiting juvenile interactions.
- Environmental context influences infant behavior, as seen in reduced grooming and play in unfamiliar enclosures without parents.
Abstract:
This study describes infant socialization in captive parent-young units of the caviomorph rodent Octodon degus. Types of parent-young contact (huddling or squatting) and social interaction (body nosing and accompanying behaviors) are described and their ontogenetic trends examined between postnatal Days 1 and 46. Fathers spent less time than mothers in contact with the young. Mother-young contact decreased postnatally, whereas the amounts of mother-young and father-young social interaction, measured in terms of body-nosing exchanges, showed a continuous increase postnatally; sibling interactions also showed a continuous increase. Father-young interactions tended to be dominated by the father. Young reared with the father cohabiting huddled less with their mother, and engaged in less body-nosing, than young reared in the father's absence. Observations suggested that paternal control of the young may curb juvenile interactions. Young observed without their parents in an unfamiliar enclosure did not groom or "play" as in their home cage with parents present, but engaged in relatively more vocalizing, neck-nosing and forepaw-clasping.