At least, that's the way it works for gophers under study in Atlanta. At Emory University, neurologist Dr. Thomas Insel is in hot pursuit of the love hormone. Of all animals, gophers were chosen as test objects. Faithfulness is just as much a part of it as the joint care of both parents for their offspring. A rarity in the animal kingdom as well.
Gophers stay with the partner that they first copulate passionately with.
Although they are practically identical, genetically speaking, their behavior patterns differ almost completely from that of their devoted relatives. Montane-mice don't form commitments, they copulate randomly. And the sexual act is never followed by a partnership. In searching for the small but crucial difference, the researchers already suspected that oxytocin might be involved, and compared the brain structures. They were able to determine that the faithful gophers not only produced significantly greater amounts of oxytocin, but are also equipped with many more oxytocin receptors, shown here in red-yellow.