Convergent changes in the maternal emission and pup reception of the rabbit mammary pheromone |
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Authors: | Gérard Coureaud Dominique Langlois Guy Perrier Benoist Schaal |
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Institution: | 1. Centre des Sciences du Go?t, Ethology and Sensory Psychobiology Group, UMR 5170 CNRS/UB/Inra, Dijon, France 2. FLAVIC Unit, Inra, Dijon, France 3. ENESAD, Dijon, France
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Abstract: | Summary. Lactating rabbit females emit volatile odour cues that trigger specialized motor actions leading to sucking. But the activity
of these cues may change with advancing lactation. Here, we tested this possibility in three experiments. In Exp. 1, we assessed
whether 2-day-old pups respond differently to the odour of milk from females in early (day 2) as compared to late (day 23)
lactation. In Exp. 2, a compound bearing pheromonal properties, the Mammary Pheromone (MP), was dosed in these milks to assess
whether its concentration is correlated with behavioural activity. In Exp. 3, the responsiveness to a constant level of MP
was compared in d2 versus d23-pups. Run on 240 pups, the assays showed that a) the milk activity declines between d2 and d23
of lactation; b) during this same period, the concentration of the MP decreases in milk; c) the MP itself becomes less active
to elicit oral grasping in pre-weaning pups than in newborns. These results indicate that the MP is active during the period
when pups are exclusively dependent on milk. The convergent changes in emission and reception of this pheromone may sequentially
warrant that pups are first attracted to the mammae, and then that they progressively disinvest the mother as they begin to
eat solid food and to be attracted by other conspecifics. |
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Keywords: | Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus mother-infant interaction chemical communication sucking pheromone development |
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