Mongolian gerbil fathers avoid newborn male pups, but not newborn female pups: olfactory control of early paternal behaviour

We examined effects on the parental behaviour of male Mongolian gerbils, Meriones unguiculatus, of the sex and number of pups in a litter. Recent fathers interacting with foster litters consisting entirely of newborn males decreased the time that they spent in contact with a litter the greater the number of pups it contained. However, fathers that interacted with litters composed entirely of newborn females showed no change in the time they …