Infanticide and caretaking in non-lactating Mus musculus: Influence of genotype,family group and sex

The involvement of genotype, family group and sex in the regulation of the response to young was studied in non-lactating wild versus laboratory house mice (Mus musculus). Regardless of the sex, naive wild mice typically killed young, in contrast to laboratory mice, which characteristically exhibited parental care. After cohabiting with parents attending their offspring, wild males exhibited paternal behaviour, while the majority of wild virgin females continued to display infanticide. Contrary to the prevailing view, the results indicate that (a) parental behaviour in wild mice does not occur spontaneously, and (b) the domesticated mouse may not always reliably represent the species Mus musculus in behavioural studies.