Kin recognition and choice of males by wild female house mice (Mus musculus).

Studied (a) whether wild house mouse females would, when given a choice between males, prefer to associate with siblings or nonsiblings and (b) whether, when they exhibited a preference, prior contact was necessary for sibling recognition. Adult females were injected with hormones to induce behavioral estrus and given a paired choice of adult males with which to associate. Males were littermate siblings (LS), reared with the female until weaning; nonlittermate siblings (NLS), full siblings the female had never met; or nonsiblings (NS), unrelated and unfamiliar males. Females preferred NS males to either LS or NLS males. This indicates that they recognized siblings, even unfamiliar ones, and preferred unrelated males to siblings as potential mating partners to optimize their fitness. The females associated more with LS than NLS males, but the preference appeared to be less than strong when an unrelated male was available. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)