Odors in parental behavior

Newborn rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, nurse only once per day for 5-7 minutes. During this short bout, pups can drink up to 25% of their body weight. They respond first to vibration and tactile cues from the approaching mother and then find the nipples with the aid of chemical cues. If one covers the nipples with 

FIGURE 6.1 Structure of 2-methylbut-2-enal, the rabbit mammary pheromone. 

Kittens rely little on olfactory stimuli to attach to the nipples of their mother. Instead, tactile cues are important. The mouth area and the trigeminal projection field mediate these tactile sensations (Blass etal, 1988). 

Chemical stimulation of a young mammal starts already in utero. Amni-otic fluid is highly attractive for rat pups. This response is not necessarily 

Laboratory mouse pups show signs of stress, such as higher rates of ultrasonic calls, when the odor of the mother is removed by exchanging the mother s litter with clean bedding (D Amato and Cabib, 1987). 

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