Infanticide and Protection of Young in House Mice (Mus domesticus): Female and Male Strategies

As for most mammals, reproductive effort and parental investment of female house mice is generally more costly than for male counterparts. Females not only expend more energy producing gametes but also incur the direct costs of pregnancy and lactation (Trivers, 1972), as well as the costs associated with offspring defense. In this chapter a series of experiments on strategies adopted by female mice to maximize their reproductive fitness are described.