Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Days-old baby mice know their mother — and don’t forget her

Even before their eyes open and their fur grows out, young mice can distinguish a mother figure from a stranger.
Harvest Mouse mother with suckling 1-week babies in nest

A harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) and her pups. Young laboratory mice favour the female who has raised them over an unfamiliar mouse. Credit: Andy Sands/Nature Picture Library

Baby mice recognize their mamas, just like human infants do. And researchers have found that mouse pups form memories of their mothers that last into adulthood.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 590, 10 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00216-7

References

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links