Response of male and female Siberian hamsters towards pups

Ontogeny of the transition from killer to caregiver in dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) with biparental care

“…Gender differences in infanticide have been previously quantified in the closely related P. sungorus. Specifically, naïve male P. sungorus were more likely to attack a pup than were naïve females (69 vs. 40%) (Gibber et al, 1984). That result contrasts with our finding that 38% of naïve male P. campbelli attacked a displaced pup compared to 68% of females.…”

“…Male and female mammals display a wide range of behaviors towards conspecific infants that can include aggression, indifference, and parental care (Gibber, Piontkewitz, & Terkel, 1984;Jakubowski & Terkel, 1985;Schneider et al, 2003). During development, juvenile rodents of both sexes are capable of behaving alloparentally towards their younger siblings (Roberts, Miller, Taymans, & Carter, 1998), but during adulthood, rodents often become infanticidal prior to the onset of parental care (Lonstein & De Vries, 2001;McCarthy & vom Saal, 1985).…”

“…The frequency of infanticide within a species is influenced by a number of factors including age (Gibber et al, 1984;McCarthy & vom Saal, 1985), sex (Gibber et al, 1984;Jakubowski & Terkel, 1985;Marques & Valenstein, 1976), reproductive experience (Brown, 1986;Gubernick et al, 1994;Labov, 1980;McCarthy & vom Saal, 1985, 1986Perrigo, Belvin, & vom Saal, 1991), previous exposure to infants (Gibber et al, 1984;McCarthy, 1990), and experience with age-matched conspecifics (Gibber & Terkel, 1985;Perrigo, Belvin, & vom Saal, 1993). For example, the maturation of both prairie voles (Lonstein & De Vries, 2001) and wild house mice (McCarthy & vom Saal, 1985) is characterized by increasing rates of infanticide with age.…”

“…In addition, these infanticidal tendencies often display strong sexual dimorphism, the direction of which varies depending on the species (Lonstein & De Vries, 2000b). Male Siberian hamsters, Phodopus sungorus (Gibber et al, 1984), and Norway rats (Brown, 1986), for instance, are significantly more likely to kill unrelated neonates than are their female conspecifics; however, in Mongolian gerbils (Elwood, 1980) and wild mice (Soroker & Terkel, 1988) this trend is reversed, and females are more likely than males to attack pups. Thus, although infanticide is ubiquitous, there is considerable variation in the timing, frequency, and gender specificity of the behavior.…”

Age‐related changes in paternal responses of gerbils parallel changes in their testosterone concentrations

“…Immature male Mongolian gerbils, the subjects in the present experiments, like other immature rodents examined to date (Siberian hamsters : Gibber, Piontkewitz, & Terkel, 1984;voles: Roberts, Miller, Taymans, & Carter, 1998;rats: Mayer, Freeman, & Rosenblatt, 1979;Brunelli, Shindledecker, & Hofer, 1985;mice: Svare, Kinsley, Mann, & Broida, 1984), respond more parentally toward conspeci®c neonates than do sexually mature individuals. The present results are consistent with the hypothesis that naturally occurring developmental changes in circulating concentrations of T may play a role in such agerelated changes in male responsiveness to young.…”