Socioecology of Infanticide in White-Footed Mice

杀害婴儿，即由其他成员杀害婴儿， 同一物种，是野生动物中普遍存在的现象。 成人 雄性经常杀死无关的幼崽然后与雌性交配， 而成年雌性则会杀死陌生的幼崽， 他们的后代，并获得受害者的巢穴。 人们对这种杀虫剂的使用条件知之甚少 发生，男性和女性用来区分他们的机制， 从不相关的后代中获得，杀虫剂如何影响人口 增长，以及是否倾向于犯下谋杀罪， 继承的 在这项拟议的研究中，主要研究者 将决定（1）男性和女性使用什么线索来识别 他们自己的后代，从而避免杀害相关的小狗，（2）如果 杀人倾向有遗传基础， 以及（3）人口增长和稳定如何受到 存在杀虫和非杀虫动物。 的 在一个有标记的野生白色- 将监测高密度和低密度的足小鼠， 将在实验室进行育种实验， 决定了杀婴行为的遗传。 先前 主要研究者的研究表明，大约50%的 的动物是杀虫的，50%是非杀虫的。 将引入杀婴和非杀婴动物， 不同的围栏，以确定杀虫剂对 社会互动和人口增长。 结果将表明 一个看似病态的行为是如何适应 并在人群中传播。 它还将揭示 女性攻击作为一种保护机制的意义 从她自己的物种的其他成员的幼崽。

Infanticide, the killing of infants by other members of the same species, is a common phenomenon in wild animals. Adult males often kill unrelated infants and then mate with the female, whereas adult females kill strange pups to remove competition for their offspring and to acquire the nest of the victim female. Little is known about the conditions under which infanticide occurs, the mechanisms males and females use to distinguish their own from unrelated offspring, how infanticide affects population growth, and whether or not the tendency to commit infanticide is inherited. In this proposed study the principal investigator will determine (1) what cues males and females use to recognize their own offspring, and thus avoid killing related pups, (2) if there is genetic basis for the tendency to commit infanticide, and (3) how population growth and stability are affected by the presence of infanticidal and noninfanticidal animals. The frequency of infanticide in a marked, wild population of white- footed mice at high and low densities will be monitored, and breeding experiments will be conducted in the laboratory to determine the inheritance of infanticidal behavior. Previous studies by the Principal Investigator have shown that about 50% of the animals are infanticidal and 50% are noninfanticidal. Infanticidal and noninfanticidal animals will be introduced to different enclosures to determine the effects of infanticide on social interactions and population growth. The results will show how a seemingly pathological behavior can actually be adaptive and spread through a population. It will also shed light on the significance of female aggression as a mechanism to protect her pups from other members of her own species.