Comparison of parental behavior in male and female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

Abstract

A comparison of male and female parental investment patterns is needed before predictions can be generated from parental investment theory. One aspect of parental investment is parental care, therefore behavioral observations were conducted to compare the parental behavior of male and female prairie voles. Females brooded pups more frequently than did males during the first week of pup life and, in the absence of their mates in the nest, brooded pups more frequently throughout the preseparation period (between birth and separation from parents on day 20). Females also licked pups more frequently than did males during the entire preseparation period. Conversely, males spent more time outside the nest throughout the preseparation period. There were no differences between the sexes in the proportion of time spent in indirect parental behaviors such as nest building, food caching, or runway maintenance. These differences in direct parental care combined with a female's energetic investment in gestation and lactation result in greater total parental investment for female than for male prairie voles.