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  • 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.

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Nature 590, 10 (2021)

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

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