Presence of the father and parental experience have differentiated effects on pup development in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)

Conflicting data exist on the importance of the father and parental experience during development in rodents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of these two variables on development in Mongolian gerbils. Forty pairs of males and females with a litter size of between 4 and 7 pups were used as subjects. Twenty couples had no experience in raising young. After the birth of their pups, four experimental groups were formed: (1) inexperienced mother and father; (II) inexperienced mother; (III) experienced mother and father and (IV) experienced mother. When the Pups reached 10 days of age, pup and parental behavior was recorded in experimental sessions of 15 min on 11 consecutive days. Through the statistical analysis it was found that the presence of the father significantly increased the physical contact between Pups and parents and that Pups opened their eyes earlier in comparison to the groups without the father. On the other hand, parental experience had a significant influence on the behavior of the pups (locomotion inside and Outside the nest, and self-grooming). The results of this study suggest that parental experience and the presence of the father have differentiated effects on development in Mongolian gerbils. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.