Studies of Maternal Retrieving in Rats I: Recognition of Young

Abstract

Many naturalistic reports indicate that lactating females of many mammalian species are capable of discriminating between their own offspring and other young of the same age. “Recognition behavior” of this sort has been reported to occur in the Alaskan fur seal (Bonnot, 1929; Preble, 1923), elephant seals (Hamilton, 1934), domestic sheep (Fraser, 1937; Scott, 1945), Dall sheep of Mt. McKinley (Murie, 1944), red deer of Scotland (Darling, 1937), American elk (Altmann, 1926), and mule deer (Linsdale and Tomich, 1953). The most extensive investigation of maternal behavior in the laboratory rat lead Wiesner and Sheard (1933) to conclude that similar discrimination does not occur in this species. In studies of maternal activity in the rat (Rattus norvegicus), the senior author became convinced that some female rats do react selectively to their own young. The present study was conducted to determine whether or not discrimination does occur, and to discover if possible the nature of the cues involved.