Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Parental care and mating system of the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster

  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

  1. 1.

    The mating system of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) was investigated by experimentally manipulating the sexual composition of vole societies, thereby providing each vole with a variety of mating choices.

  2. 2.

    In male-female pairs, both parents appeared to contribute equally to the care of young, with the exception of lactation. Paternal activities included nest and runway construction, food caching, and grooming, retrieving, and brooding the young.

  3. 3.

    Voles in 26 of 27 societies mated monogamously; those in the other group mated polygynously.

  4. 4.

    Nonreproductive voles in the experimental societies generally lived in communal groups. Communal groups are known to occur in field populations of prairie voles, but it is not known if they exist during periods of reproductive activity.

  5. 5.

    We address the questions of the adaptive significance of voles living communally and we consider the relationship between communal voles and dispersing voles in nature. The results of this study were interpreted relative to four mating systems that may be associated with paternal care in mammals. We conclude that M. ochrogaster is basically monogamous; a verbal model is presented for the evolution of monogamy in this species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altmann, S.A.: A field study of the sociobiology of rhesus monkeys, Macaca mulatta. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 102, 330–435 (1962)

    Google Scholar 

  • Batzli, G.O., Getz, L.L., Hurley, S.S.: Suppression of growth and reproduction of microtine rodents by social factors. J. Mammal. 58, 583–591 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertram, B.: Social factors influencing reproduction in wild lions. J. Zool. 177, 463–82 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Birney, E.C., Grant, W.E., Baird, D.D.: Importance of vegetative cover to cycles of Microtus populations. Ecology 57, 1043–1051 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Buechner, H.K.: Implications of social behavior in the management of Uganda kob. In: The behaviour of ungulates and its relation to management. Geist, V., Walther, F. (eds.), pp. 853–870. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN Publ. (new series) 1974

    Google Scholar 

  • Criddle, S.: The habits of Microtus minor in Manitoba. J. Mammal 7, 193–200 (1926)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewsbury, D.A.: Copulatory behaviour of old-field mice (Peromyscus polionotus subgiseus). Anim. Behav. 19, 192–204 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, J., Muckenhirn, N., Rudan, R.: The relation between ecology and social structure in primates. Science 176, 863–874 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • Emlen, S., Oring, L.: Sexual selection and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197, 215–223 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Foltz, D.: Electrophoretic evidence for monogamy in the old field mouse (Peromyscus polionotus). Tech. Paper (58th Annu. Meet.). Am. Soc. Mammal. (Abstr.), p. 1 (1978)

  • Frank, F.: The causality of microtine cycles in Germany. J. Wildl. Manage. 21, 113–121 (1957)

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitch, H.: Aspects of reproduction and development in the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). Univ. Kans. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. 10, 129–161 (1957)

    Google Scholar 

  • Getz, L.: Aggressive behavior of the meadow and prairie vole. J. Mammal. 43, 351–358 (1962)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gier, H., Cooksey, B.: Microtus ochrogaster in the laboratory. Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci. 70, 256–265 (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, W.E., French, N.R., Swift, D.M.: Response of a small mammal community to water and nitrogen treatments in a shortgrass prairie ecosystem. J. Mammal. 58, 637–652 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, G., Dewsbury, D.: A quantitative description of copulatory behavior in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Brain Behav. Ecol. 43, 351–358 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasler, M.: Factors affecting reproduction in female Microtus ochrogaster. Doctoral dissertation, Univ. Missouri (1970)

  • Kleiman, D.: Monogamy in mammals. Q. Rev. Biol. 52, 39–69 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J.: Energy requirements for growth in Microtus ochrogaster. Masters dissertation, Colorado State Univ. (1974)

  • Nel, J.A.: Aspects of the social ethology of some Kalahari rodents. Z. Tierpsychol. 37, 322–331 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Richmond, M., Conaway, C.: Management, breeding, and reproductive performance of the vole, Microtus ochrogaster, in a laboratory colony. Lab. Anim. Care 19, 80–87 (1969a)

    Google Scholar 

  • Richmond, M., Conaway, C.: Induced ovulation and oestrus in Microtus ochrogaster. J. Reprod. Fertil. [Suppl.] 6, 357–376 (1969b)

    Google Scholar 

  • Risser, P.G., Birney, E.C., Blocker, H.D., May, W., Parton, W.J., Wiens, J.A.: The true prairie ecosystem. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson, and Ross (in press) 1979

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, R.K., Gaines, M.S.: Levels of aggression in fluctuating populations of the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster, in eastern Kansas. J. Mammal. 57, 43–57 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M.: Mating behavior of Peromyscus polionotus. Fl. Acad. Sci. 30, 230–239 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Booth, Y.: The relationship between mammalian young and conspecifics other than mothers and peers: A review: In: Advances in the study of behavior, Vol. 3, Lehrman, D., Hinde, R., Shaw, E. (eds.), pp. 120–194. New York: Academic 1970

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, J.A.: Mating systems and parental care in the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster. Masters dissertation, Univ. Minnesota (1977)

  • Trivers, R.L.: Parental investment and sexual selection. In: Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871–1971. Campbell, B. (ed.), pp. 136–179. Chigaco: Aldine 1972

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E.O.: Sociobiology: The new synthesis. London: Belknap; Harvard Univ. 1975

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bell Museum of Natural History, Department of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, University of Minnesota, 55455, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Jeanette A. Thomas & Elmer C. Birney

Authors
  1. Jeanette A. Thomas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elmer C. Birney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Thomas, J.A., Birney, E.C. Parental care and mating system of the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 5, 171–186 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00293304

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00293304

Keywords

Search

Navigation