Figure 2: Parental behaviour and the temporal nature of retrieval behaviour.

(a) Duration of various maternal behaviours performed by the sires in their home cages for 30 min before and after 10-min separation from pups in a new cage together with their mates. Mean±s.e.m. (n=5 sires; Student’s t-test, *P<0.05). (b,c) Effects of cohabitation duration on retrieval behaviour in parental males (b) and females (c). Parents were isolated alone (squares) or together with their mates (circles) in a new cage for 3, 5, 10 or 30 min. Subsequently, the animals showing retrieval upon reunion in the old cages were counted. In two different separation groups, 24 families were examined at each time point. Experiments were grouped for statistical analysis, and one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test was performed (F_4,15=3.56, *P<0.05 from 0 min, **P<0.01 from 5-min cohabitation). Student’s t-test for two different separation groups at 10 and 30 min, ^#P<0.01.