Pup contact promotes paternal responsiveness in male meadow voles

Analysis of social factors affecting paternal responsiveness and suppression of infanticide in male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, tested with unrelated pups shows that pup exposure enhances paternal responsiveness. Rearing of pups as neonates with their fathers increases the responsiveness of adult males to pups. Intense exposure to pups is associated with diminished aggression and increased paternal responsiveness. Copulation and female contact do not influence male responsiveness to pups.