Cannulation and microinjection stereotaxic surgeries in the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster)

Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are small Avicoline rodents native to central and mid-west United States and south-central provinces of Canada (Cassola, 2016). Prairie voles are a uniquely notable species because (1) a rich literature on their natural history and behavioral ecology exists (Fitch 1957; Getz and Hofmann 1986; Getz and Carter 1980), (2) prairie voles adapt extremely well to laboratory environments (Carter et al. 1986), (3) scientists can leverage many of the tools developed in other more classic rodent models due to the prairie vole’s phylogenetic relationship to them (Donaldson and Young 2008; McGraw and Young 2010), and (4) they share some relatively rare but defining behaviors with humans (i.e., communal living, social monogamy, and biparental care)(Lukas and Clutton-Brock 2012; Kleiman 1977; Carter 1998; Dewsbury 1981). Indeed, prairie voles and several congener species (including meadow voles [M. pennsylvanicus], pine/ woodland voles [M. pinetorium], montane voles [M. montanus], and Mandarin voles [M. mandarinus – sometimes called Lasipodomys mandarinus]) represent a tremendous opportunity to understand the evolution and expression of social behavior (McGraw and Young 2010; Insel and Shapiro 1992; Gewirtz and Yong-Kyu 2016), and are well suited to serve as models for several aspects of human social behavior and dysfunction (Carter 2007; Young 2001; Young et al. 2002; Carter 2005; Beery and Kaufer 2015).