Interest of mice in conspecific male odours is influenced by degree of kinship

SMELL affects many aspects of the social and sexual behaviour of rodents1,2. For example, fighting in pairs of male mice is increased if one of the participants is made to smell unfamiliar by rubbing it with the urine of a strange male3. It has also been suggested that olfactory cues play an important part in mate choice4. In both rats5 and mice6, females which have been reared by artificially scented mothers have, when adult, been found to...