题目选项分析

Adult female rats who have never before encountered rat pups will start to show maternal behaviors after being confined with a pup for about seven days. This period can be considerably shortened by disabling the female's sense of smell or by removing the scent-producing glands of the pup.

Which of the following hypotheses best explains the contrast described above?

【选项】The amount of scent produced by rat pups increases when they are in the presence of a female rat that did not bear them.