caa a22 4500 465782590 CHVBK 20180323111959.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170327e19900901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF00180302 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF00180302 Inter-litter competition and communal nursing among Norway rats: advantages of birth synchrony [Elektronische Daten] [Julie Mennella, Mark Blumberg, Martha McClintock, Howard Moltz] Summary: The effect of inter-litter competition on pup survival was investigated in pairs of female rats (Rattus norvegicus) living and breeding in the same environment. If a female gave birth when a 0- to 14-day-old litter was already present in the environment, her pups had a very high chance of surviving, similar to the situation in which no other litter was present. Moreover, the mother was likely to nurse communally with the mother of the 0- to 14-day-old litter. This communal nursing benefitted the newborn pups as evidenced by their being heavier at weaning than litters that were not nursed communally. In contrast, if a female gave birth when a 15-to 28-day-old litter was already present in the environment, her newborn pups were likely to die within 3 days postpartum, owing to the fact that they were often prevented from suckling at their mother's teats, resulting in milk deprivation, and were often beneath the older pups, resulting in physical trauma. These findings suggest that inter-litter competition is an important source of pup mortality when litters are born 15-28 days apart. The data are discussed in terms of the advantages of birth synchrony. Springer-Verlag, 1990 Mennella Julie Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Woodlawn Avenue, 5730, Chicago, IL, USA aut Blumberg Mark Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Woodlawn Avenue, 5730, Chicago, IL, USA aut McClintock Martha Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Woodlawn Avenue, 5730, Chicago, IL, USA aut Moltz Howard Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Woodlawn Avenue, 5730, Chicago, IL, USA aut Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Springer-Verlag 27/3(1990-09-01), 183-190 0340-5443 27:3<183 1990 27 265 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00180302 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00180302 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Mennella Julie Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Woodlawn Avenue, 5730, Chicago, IL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Blumberg Mark Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Woodlawn Avenue, 5730, Chicago, IL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- McClintock Martha Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Woodlawn Avenue, 5730, Chicago, IL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Moltz Howard Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Woodlawn Avenue, 5730, Chicago, IL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Springer-Verlag 27/3(1990-09-01), 183-190 0340-5443 27:3<183 1990 27 265 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer