Data from: Selfish pups: weaning conflict and milk theft in free-ranging dogs

Parent-offspring conflict theory predicts the emergence of weaning conflict between a mother and her offspring arising from skewed relatedness benefits. Empirical observations of weaning conflict have not been carried out in canids. In a field-based study on free-ranging dogs we observed that nursing/suckling bout durations decrease, proportion of mother-initiated nursing bouts decrease and mother-initiated nursing/suckling terminations increase with pup age. We identified the 7th - 13th week period of pup age as the zone of conflict between the mother and her pups, beyond which suckling solicitations cease, and before which suckling refusals are few. We also report for the first time milk theft by pups who take advantage of the presence of multiple lactating females, due to the promiscuous mating system of the dogs. This behaviour, though apparently disadvantageous for the mothers, is perhaps adaptive for the dogs in the face of high mortality and competition for resources.

亲子冲突理论（Parent-offspring conflict theory）预测，母亲与后代之间会因亲缘收益不对称而产生断奶冲突。目前尚未有针对犬科动物断奶冲突的实证观测研究。本研究针对自由活动家犬开展野外实地研究，观测到随着幼崽年龄增长，哺乳/吮乳回合时长逐渐缩短、母方发起的哺乳回合占比下降，且母方主动终止哺乳/吮乳的频次不断升高。我们确定幼崽7至13周龄区间为母犬与幼崽的冲突高发期：在此区间之后，幼崽的吮乳恳求行为将完全消失；而在此区间之前，母犬的吮乳拒绝行为则较为少见。此外，本研究首次报道了因家犬混交交配制度，幼崽趁多只泌乳雌性在场之机实施的偷奶行为。尽管该行为看似对母犬不利，但在家犬面临高死亡率与资源竞争的环境下，该行为或许对种群整体具有适应性意义。