The importance of paternal care on pup survival and pup growth in Peromyscus californicus when required to work for food

Abstract

We examined paternal care in the monogamous California mouse when wheel running was necessary to obtain food. Paternal and maternal care, pup survival and feeding were compared in litters with single females (Male Absent) and paired females (Male Present) under three different foraging requirements. When wheel running was required for obtaining food (Wheel Contingent), the male's presence significantly increased pup survival. There were no significant effects of the male's presence on pup survival in the No Wheel (standard laboratory housing with ad lib food) or Wheel Noncontingent (running wheel with ad lib food) groups. Males may have indirectly increased pup survival by helping generate food through wheel running and then subsequently spending less time eating than females. While females reduced the time spent in parental care as pups aged, males increased the time spent in parental care as pups aged. Thus as pups became larger and more expensive to rear, the male increased parental care. These results indicate that paternal care benefits pup survival more under conditions where the parents must forage to obtain food than when food is provided ad lib in the standard laboratory environment.