Elwood R W
Dev Psychobiol. 1981 May;14(3):209-12. doi: 10.1002/dev.420140309.
Nonbreeding female Mongolian gerbils readily cannibalize all accessible pups. Among breeding females this behavior ceases a few days prior to parturition. If the litter remains with the female, cannibalism of newborn test pups returns between 11 and 20 days postpartum. If the litter is removed a few hours after parturition, however, 40% of the females will cannibalize on Days 1-5 and 72% will cannibalize on Days 6-10 postpartum. Thus, the presence of a litter appears to suppress pup cannibalism. The evidence suggests that the replacement of a litter 6-10 day with newborn test pups can prolong the suppression of pup cannibalism.
非繁殖期的雌性蒙古沙鼠会轻易地吃掉所有能接触到的幼崽。在繁殖期的雌性沙鼠中，这种行为在分娩前几天就会停止。如果幼崽一直和母鼠在一起，产后11至20天会再次出现吃掉新生试验幼崽的同类相食行为。然而，如果在分娩后几小时就将幼崽移走，40%的母鼠会在产后第1至5天出现同类相食行为，72%的母鼠会在产后第6至10天出现同类相食行为。因此，有幼崽似乎会抑制同类相食行为。有证据表明，用新生试验幼崽在产后6至10天替换一窝幼崽，可以延长对同类相食行为的抑制。
