BIXLER, A.; TANG-MARTINEZ, Z.*: Mate choice in prairie voles: effects of genetic relatedness and familiarity

Prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster, are monogamous rodents. We examined the mating choices of sexually inexperienced male and female prairie voles in two-way choice tests under 3 different conditions. Subjects were tested with targets that were 1) either a familiar sibling or an unrelated and unfamiliar vole; 2) a sibling and an unrelated vole, both of which were unfamiliar; or 3) two siblings, where one was familiar and the other unfamiliar. Intrommission was the criterion for mating. In condition 1, all voles that mated did so with the unfamiliar and unrelated conspecific. In condition 2, there was no significant preferences between the two targets. In condition 3, only one of 17 subjects mated, suggesting that voles avoid mating with siblings even when they are unfamiliar to the subject. The results of other measures related to reproductive behavior (e.g., time visiting, anogenital investigation, time in contact, agonistic interactions) will also be reported. In most cases these measures were consistent with the mating preferences. However, we also found that interaction of pairs that mated were significantly more agonistic as compared to those of pairs that did not mate. Additionally, social preference (time spent visiting a target) did not always correspond to mating preference. We conclude that both relatedness and familiarity are important in the mate choices of prairie voles and that time spent visiting is not an adequate measure of mating preferences.