Social Attachment-Voles
Prairie Vole--Monogamous Species:
background history:
- mouse-sized rodent that lives in burrows across the American Midwest
- prairie voles are found in multigenerational family groups with a single breeding pair
- the single breeding pair exhibits the classic features of monogamy: 1) a breeding pair shares the same nest and territory where they are in frequent contact--high degree of affiliative behavior (males and females will spend more than 50% sitting side by side), 2) males and females participate in biparental care, 3) intruders of either sex are rejected, and 4) following the death of one of the pair, a new mate is accepted only 20 % of the time
- prairie voles are an example of a species that shows “induced ovulation and behavioral estrus”--female must be exposed to a pheromone from an unrelated male which stimulates her reproductive axis stimulating estrogen secretion, sexual receptivity, mating and then ovulation
- following mating, a selective and enduring pair bond is formed between male and female prairie voles