Abstract: This paper investigated the role of the kinship on parental care and infanticide in Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti) . In home cages , behavioral responses of adult voleswere observed and compared when placed with their own pups ( r = 0.50) and the unrelated pups ( r < 0.125). Behavioral observation was conducted corresponding to pup development which was divided into five periods : period. (newborn : 1 - 5 days) , period 2 (ear-erected : 6 - 9 days), period 3 (eye-opening: 10 - 14 days), period 4 (out of nest : 15- 20 days), and period 5 (weaning: 21 - 24 days). The parental behaviors included brooding and nursing, nonventral contact , and grooming. Other behaviors such as sniffing pups , nest-building , and the location of the subject voles were also recorded. Males spent significantly more time in brooding and nursing with their own pups than they did with the unrelated pups during the period 1. During the period 5 , they also spent more time in activities in nest and nonventral contact with their own pups than they did with the unrelated pups. They, however, spent less time with their own pups in grooming during the periods 1 and 3, and in sniffing during the periods 2, 4 and 5. In contrast , females also spent significantly less time with their own pups in grooming during the period 5, and in sniffing during the periods 1, 2 and 4. And they spent significantly more time with their pups in nonventral contact only during the period 5. The parents started killing the unrelated pups when the pups started out of nest (152 days old), and did not kill their own pups during all pup development. Moreover, although the pup development did not show an obvious effect on males in infanticide, females were more likely to adopt infanticide in the later period than in the early period. During the last two periods, kinship showed the significant effects on infanticide in females but not in males. More females killed the unrelated pups than males did. Therefore, we suggest that kinship, based on previous association or Pand phenotype matching, might play a positive role in regulating both parental care and infanticide by females, and in regulating parental care only by males in Brandt's voles.

Key words: Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti), Familiarity, Kinship, Parental care, Infanticide

摘要： 根据幼仔发育的5 个阶段: 新生(1～5 日龄) 、耳立(6～9 日龄) 、睁眼(10～14 日龄) 、出巢(15～20 日龄) 和断奶(21～24 日龄) , 通过观察布氏田鼠对自己幼仔( r = 0.50) 和非亲缘幼仔( r< 0.125) 的行为反应, 研究亲缘关系对布氏田鼠双亲和杀婴行为的影响。结果表明: 1) 新生阶段, 雄鼠抚育亲仔的时间显著多于非亲缘幼仔; 断奶阶段, 雄鼠与亲仔相触及在巢内活动的时间也显著多于非亲缘幼仔; 雄鼠在耳立、出巢和断奶阶段嗅闻非亲缘幼仔, 以及在新生和睁眼阶段修饰非亲缘幼仔的时间都显著多于亲仔。2) 断奶阶段, 雌鼠与亲仔相触的时间显著多于非亲缘幼仔, 但在睁眼阶段修饰非亲缘幼仔, 以及在新生、耳立和出巢阶段嗅闻非亲缘幼仔的时间显著多于亲仔。3) 雌雄鼠在15 日龄前没有杀婴行为, 15 日龄后, 开始对非亲缘幼仔发生杀婴行为; 雌鼠杀婴行为受幼仔发育的显著影响, 且杀婴频次显著高于雄鼠; 雌鼠在断奶阶段对非亲缘幼仔的杀婴频次显著高于亲仔。综上所述, 亲缘关系对布氏田鼠的双亲和杀婴行为有显著影响, 这可能与个体间的已往经历(熟悉性等) 或表现性匹配等辨别机制有关。

关键词: 布氏田鼠, 亲缘关系, 熟悉性, 双亲行为, 杀婴行为