How Do Male Rats Help Rake Young?
WouterDid you know that male rats can help raise their young? This is an interesting study because it challenges our cultural beliefs that only mothers are wired for nurturing and bonding. The research showed that the hormones that are associated with bonding and nurturing also increase in male rats. The results have implications for human behavior and the way we view other animals, including our own.
The results suggest that the hormone testosterone has an adverse relationship with paternal care, but the findings were not conclusive. Although testosterone levels were found to increase in biparental rodents during the gestational stage and decreased in adult males after the pups were born, the effect of testosterone on paternal behavior varied across species. For example, castration of adult males had little effect on paternal behavior in Djungarian hamsters, but had a positive effect in Mongolian gerbils.
Rats share parenting duties in communal nests. The females share the task of caring for the offspring equally, though it is likely that some of them will monopolize the role. Likewise, communal nesting is more likely to work well when two females know each other. This is because they are more likely to be mutually helpful and to share milk with non-offspring.
Rats can deliver babies within two hours of the first sign of labor. Depending on the breed, the litter size may range from six to thirteen pups. Mothers usually have a bloody discharge from their vulva, which is the first sign that labor has begun. This bloody discharge will help the mother’s sides suck in, which causes contractions. The mother will then sit up to help deliver her babies. Once the babies are delivered, the mother will begin to clean the birth sac and lick the newborn. She will also begin eating the umbilical cord and placenta.
