Baby mouse tears restrain old mice

A study from Harvard - USA showed that baby mouse tears contained a chemical that inhibited the desire of male mice.

>>>Mouse to sing to mark the territory

Adult male mice always try to find ways to mate with young mice as an innate behavior. In order to prevent this "pedophile" behavior, pups have released a chemical through tears to prevent sexual attacks of adult male mice.

Baby rat tears contain hormones that inhibit male mouse desire.(Photo: Mirror)

The scientists found a type of pheromone called ESP22 (exocrine-gland secreting peptide 22) caused by the rat 's lacrimal glands secreted about every 3 weeks, 50 times more than adult mice. Pheromones are substances used as chemical signals between individuals of the same species. These substances are secreted outside the insect's body and can cause specialized reactions for other species of the same species.

This type of pheromone has a strong affinity for sensory neurons of adult male mice. In contrast, the nasal cavity of adult mice has odor sensors to sense hormones. Therefore, when this substance is released, the pups will escape from the "eager" old mouse.

"We found a pheremone in immature mice to control the innate behavior of male mice," said Dr Stephen Liberles of Harvard University, who led the study .

However, there is no evidence that the nose also reacts to this hormone like other animals.