The responsiveness of young rabbits to the mammary pheromone: developmental course in domestic and wild pups |
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Authors: | Gérard Coureaud Heiko G Rödel Christfried A Kurz Benoist Schaal |
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Institution: | 1. Ethology and Sensory Psychobiology Group, Centre Européen des Sciences du Go?t, UMR 5170 CNRS/UB/Inra, Dijon, France 2. Department of Animal Physiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
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Abstract: | Newborn rabbits rely on odour cues to localize and seize maternal nipples. In particular, they orally respond to the mammary
pheromone (MP) emitted in rabbit milk. The activity of the MP was so far mainly investigated in newborns, and a drop in its
releasing effect was shown in 23-day old pups. Here, we evaluated the activity of the MP in a large sample (n=1588) of domestic
rabbit pups tested between birth and weaning. We also assessed whether wild-type pups respond to the MP, and whether the developmental
course of their responsiveness matches the one of domestic pups. During the first postnatal week, the MP revealed to be a
strong releasing stimulus in all pups, regardless of their genetic and environmental background. However, the saliency of
the MP decreased with approaching weaning, and this decrease was clearly steeper in wild-type than in domestic pups. These
results are discussed with regard to the concept of ontogenetic adaptation and the effects of artificial selection. |
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Keywords: | European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus mother-young communication mammary pheromone development domestication |
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