Role of residual olfactory cues in the determination of feeding site selection and exploration patterns of domestic rats

Weanling domestic rat pups feed and explore in areas containing residual olfactory cues deposited by conspecific adults in preference to clean areas. Both nulliparous and lactating Long-Evans female rats deposit residual cues in an area that induce pups to explore and feed in it. Residual cues continue to affect the feeding and exploratory behavior of pups to maturity. Discrepancies between results obtained in the olfactory discrimination …