Non-genomic transmission of paternal behavior between fathers and sons in the monogamous and biparental California mouse

Maternal behaviour has profound, long-lasting implications for the health and well-being of developing offspring. In the monogamous California mouse (Peromyscus californicus), care by both parents is critical for offspring survival. We tested the hypothesis that similar to maternal care in rodents, paternal huddling and grooming (HG) behaviour can be transmitted to future generations via behavioural mechanisms. In California mice, testosterone maintains paternal HG behaviour. In the present study, we randomly assigned a group of male California mice to castration or sham-operated conditions and allowed them to raise their offspring normally. Adult sons of these males were paired with a female, and they were observed interacting with their own offspring. We found that like their fathers, the sons of castrated males huddled and groomed their young at lower levels than the sons of sham-operated fathers. The sons of castrates also retrieved pups more frequently. When both parents were prese...母体行为对发育中子代的健康与福祉具有深远且持久的影响。在单配制加州鹿鼠（Peromyscus californicus）中，双亲抚育对子代存活至关重要。本研究验证了如下假说：与啮齿类动物的母体抚育行为类似，父本依偎与理毛（HG）行为可通过行为学机制传递给后代。在加州鹿鼠中，睾酮可维持父本HG行为。本研究中，我们将一组雄性加州鹿鼠随机分配至去势组或假手术组，并使其正常抚育子代。将这些雄鼠的成年雄性后代与雌鼠配对后，观察其与自身子代的互动行为。结果显示，与父代表现一致，去势雄鼠的雄性后代对幼崽的依偎与理毛行为水平显著低于假手术组雄鼠的雄性后代；同时，去势雄鼠的雄性后代叼回幼崽的频率更高。当双亲均为prese……