Olfactory preference for own mother and litter in 1‐day‐old rabbits and its impairment by thermotaxis

Abstract

We investigated the ability of rabbit pups to display preferences towards various elements of their postnatal environment during the stage of confinement in the nest. Subjects were submitted to a two-choice test during the first week after birth to assess if they could detect and discriminate between does, litters of pups, or nesting materials of the same developmental stage. On D1 and D7, pups were attracted to any lactating doe, litter, or nest when compared to an empty compartment. When two stimuli were opposed, pups preferred their own nest to an alien one on D1 and D7 but not their mother nor their siblings when opposed to alien does or pups. However, additional tests indicated that this lack of preference for kin conspecifics resulted from a predominant attraction to thermal cues over individual odors. Indeed, pups were strongly attracted to a warm compartment (37 degrees C) than to a cooler one (20 degrees C) and once thermal cues were controlled for in the testing situation, the pups were specifically attracted to odors of their own mother's hair and of their siblings. No preference was observed towards the mother's uterine secretions. In conclusion, pups can recognize olfactory cues emanating from their mother and their siblings the day after birth. The preference for nesting materials would reflect in major part the combined attraction to maternal and sibling odors present in the nest.

Mouse Grueneberg ganglion neurons share molecular and functional features with C. elegans amphid neurons

“…Because no differences were measured between untreated and Ctrl mice, only results from Ctrl and Axo mice are presented for clarity purposes. The thermotaxis protocol was adapted from (Pacheco-Cobos et al, 2003; Serra and Nowak, 2008). Untreated, Ctrl and Axo mice were placed at P5, P9, and P12 in a Plexiglas arena (13 × 13 cm) in which a thermal gradient (37–0°C) was generated by controlling the temperatures of the walls.…”

Preparing for Life After Birth: Introducing the Concepts of Intrauterine and Extrauterine Sensory Entrainment in Mammalian Young

“…The behaviour of newborns in this group includes crawling towards the mother, locating her mammary glands, orally grasping a nipple and sucking, thermoregulatory huddling with littermates and the dam, and eliciting maternal nurturing and protective behaviours [76,77,78]. These and other behaviours provide clear evidence that particular sensory modalities are sufficiently functional at birth to enable the litter to attain and maintain close proximity with the dam; they include proprioception, touch, taste, smell, thermal sensitivity, and nociception [36,52,60,78,79,80,81,82]. Also, a degree of taste discrimination is apparent immediately after birth [83].…”

Vitality in Newborn Farm Animals: Adverse Factors, Physiological Responses, Pharmacological Therapies, and Physical Methods to Increase Neonate Vigor

“…Regarding their sensory capabilities, mature neurological newborns have the proprioception, musculoskeletal system, and vestibular function sufficiently developed to stand up immediately after birth; in the same way, a developed sense of smell and vision allow them to track and focus on objects [95,96]. Neurological moderately immature newborns have developed taste, smell, touch, proprioception, nociception, and thermal sensitivity; however, visual and hearing capacities are absent and not functional until cortical-subcortical connectivity is established at about 10-17 days after birth [97,98].…”