Abstract:The environment may modulate genetic influences on behavioral expression. We investigated whether the physical rearing environment modulates anxiety and exploratory behavior in four populations, representing three species, of the striped mouse Rhabdomys. One population originated from an arid, open habitat and the others from grassy, covered habitats, and two species occurred in sympatry. We raised captive individuals of all populations in treatments that simulated cover or no cover for two generations and inv… Show more
“…Similarly, female degus huddled as frequently with stranger females as they did with familiar females although interactions with strangers were typically more agonistic(Insel et al, 2020). Differences in amicability between individuals of different Rhabdomys taxa suggest that the causal mechanism for social preference may differ in the genus.Personality experiments in non-social contexts have shown that R. pumilio is comparatively less anxious and bolder than R. d. chakae(Mackay & Pillay, 2021;Rymer & Pillay, 2012) which is partially modulated by rearing environment and a result of phylogenetic differences between taxa(Mackay & Pillay, 2019). We found that R. pumilio approached stimulus females faster and investigated them for longer than R. d. chakae, regardless of stimulus type.…”
mentioning
confidence: 57%
“…Personality experiments in non‐social contexts have shown that R. pumilio is comparatively less anxious and bolder than R. d. chakae (Mackay & Pillay, 2021; Rymer & Pillay, 2012) which is partially modulated by rearing environment and a result of phylogenetic differences between taxa (Mackay & Pillay, 2019). We found that R. pumilio approached stimulus females faster and investigated them for longer than R. d. chakae , regardless of stimulus type.…”
The ability to distinguish between familiar and strange conspecifics is important in group-living animals and influences the types of interactions between conspecifics.Social systems differ in sister taxa of the striped mouse genus Rhabdomys originating from different environments. Xeric-adapted R. pumilio displays facultative group-living whereas the mesic-adapted R. d. chakae is solitary. We assessed social recognition and attraction to strangers in females of two populations each of R. pumilio and R. d. chakae by means of a social discrimination task. We used a three-chamber apparatus developed in an established protocol and measured the latency of test females to approach and the duration of their investigation of stimulus females. Differences in social recognition of and preference for unfamiliar conspecifics in group-living and solitary-living taxa occurred at the taxon-level, even though constituent populations occurring kilometers apart showed similar responses. Females differed in the latency (testing phase) and duration of investigation (familiarization and testing phases) inter-specifically but not intra-specifically. Female R. pumilio approached stimulus females faster than female R. d. chakae. Female R. pumilio also investigated stimulus females for longer, regardless of stimulus type compared to R. d. chakae, but both taxa spent more time investigating familiar females than novel females and approached the familiar females faster than novel females. Social recognition, short-term memory, and social preference do not appear to differ between closely related taxa and differences in behavior between the two taxa might be related to inherent personality and social proclivity.
“…Similarly, female degus huddled as frequently with stranger females as they did with familiar females although interactions with strangers were typically more agonistic(Insel et al, 2020). Differences in amicability between individuals of different Rhabdomys taxa suggest that the causal mechanism for social preference may differ in the genus.Personality experiments in non-social contexts have shown that R. pumilio is comparatively less anxious and bolder than R. d. chakae(Mackay & Pillay, 2021;Rymer & Pillay, 2012) which is partially modulated by rearing environment and a result of phylogenetic differences between taxa(Mackay & Pillay, 2019). We found that R. pumilio approached stimulus females faster and investigated them for longer than R. d. chakae, regardless of stimulus type.…”
mentioning
confidence: 57%
“…Personality experiments in non‐social contexts have shown that R. pumilio is comparatively less anxious and bolder than R. d. chakae (Mackay & Pillay, 2021; Rymer & Pillay, 2012) which is partially modulated by rearing environment and a result of phylogenetic differences between taxa (Mackay & Pillay, 2019). We found that R. pumilio approached stimulus females faster and investigated them for longer than R. d. chakae , regardless of stimulus type.…”
The ability to distinguish between familiar and strange conspecifics is important in group-living animals and influences the types of interactions between conspecifics.Social systems differ in sister taxa of the striped mouse genus Rhabdomys originating from different environments. Xeric-adapted R. pumilio displays facultative group-living whereas the mesic-adapted R. d. chakae is solitary. We assessed social recognition and attraction to strangers in females of two populations each of R. pumilio and R. d. chakae by means of a social discrimination task. We used a three-chamber apparatus developed in an established protocol and measured the latency of test females to approach and the duration of their investigation of stimulus females. Differences in social recognition of and preference for unfamiliar conspecifics in group-living and solitary-living taxa occurred at the taxon-level, even though constituent populations occurring kilometers apart showed similar responses. Females differed in the latency (testing phase) and duration of investigation (familiarization and testing phases) inter-specifically but not intra-specifically. Female R. pumilio approached stimulus females faster than female R. d. chakae. Female R. pumilio also investigated stimulus females for longer, regardless of stimulus type compared to R. d. chakae, but both taxa spent more time investigating familiar females than novel females and approached the familiar females faster than novel females. Social recognition, short-term memory, and social preference do not appear to differ between closely related taxa and differences in behavior between the two taxa might be related to inherent personality and social proclivity.
“…The OF consisted of a glass tank (46 × 30 × 35 cm) with opaque sides. The tank floor was divided into nine equal squares using electrical tape, which did not impede movement of a mouse in the current or any of our previous studies (Mackay & Pillay, 2019; Rymer & Pillay, 2012; Rymer et al, 2008). A single mouse was placed in the center of the tank.…”
Species or populations are locally adapted to the environments they occupy because of different selection pressures. Our study considers behavioral differences in rodents originating from environments with different levels of overhead cover. We investigated exploratory behavior and anxiety in 4 populations of the African striped mouse Rhabdomys, in South Africa, from different environments: R. pumilio from a semi-desert; R. bechuanae and R. d. dilectus, which were sympatric in the central grasslands; and another allopatric R. d. dilectus occurred in the northern grasslands. We tested all individuals in 5 standard laboratory tests: light-dark, startle response, open field and novel object tests, and the plus maze. In a principle components analysis, R. pumilio and the central grassland R. dilectus grouped together, and R. bechuanae and the allopatric R. dilectus grouped together, but there was some overlap between populations. Univariate analyses showed population-level differences in exploration and anxiety. R. pumilio and the central R. d. dilectus were more exploratory and less anxious than R. bechuanae and the allopatric R. d. dilectus. The behavior of R. pumilio (more exploratory and less anxious) reflects the open environments it occupies in nature, whereas the allopatric R. d. dilectus and R. bechuanae were less exploratory and more anxious reflecting the closed habitats they occupy. The similarity between R. pumilio and the central R. d. dilectus cannot be explained by habitat and might be related to the effects of coexistence between central grassland R. d. dilectus and R. bechuanae, which may potentially alter the behavior of one or both species.
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