On the Social Behavior in a Stable Group of Long-Tailed Field Mice (Apodemus Sylvaticus). Ii. Its Relations With Distribution of Daily Activity

Abstract

A group of three or four long-tailed field mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) living in a large terrarium was observed for three consecutive months. A comparative analysis of their social behavior and temporal distribution of activity shows that there was a simple direct correlation between the number of encounters and the amount of time two or more mice spent together at the surface of the terrarium. It also shows an alternation of social and asocial periods, each of those lasting one or several weeks. In a social period, encounters were frequent, the mice spent much time together and were rarely seen to be active alone. The individual activity patterns were concordant, which contributed to the high amounts of simultaneous activity and of encounters. But in an asocial period, encounters were scarce, little time was spent together and solitary mice were often seen; the socially top ranking animal restricted its activity to certain times of the day and the three other mice to other times of the day, which contributed to the low amount of simultaneous activity and to the low frequency of encounters.

Vertebrate Behavioral Rhythms

“…In a rat colony studied under seminatural conditions, dominant rats appeared to exclude subordinate animals from a feeding site at one time of day, presumably on the basis of aggressive interactions (Calhoun, 1962). Similar effects of social interaction have been reported in laboratory studies of house mice (Mus musculus; Crowcroft and Rowe, 1963) and field mice (Apodemus sylvaticus; Bovet, 1972). Large kangaroo rats (Dipodomys microps) aggressively excluded smaller D. merriami from a favored feeding site early in the night; the latter returned to feed later in the night when microps were less active above ground (Kenagy, 1973).…”

On the Chronobiology of Cohabitation

“…In the laboratory, A. cahirinus and A. russatus are strictly and primarily nocturnal, respectively (Weber and Hohn 2005;Cohen and Kronfeld-Schor 2006), and chemical signals from A. cahirinus have been shown to alter the phase angle of entrainment of A. russatus, suggesting that these cues contribute to their temporal partitioning reported in the field (Haim and Rozenfeld 1993;Fluxman and Haim 1993). There is also a report of laboratory group housing of long-tailed field mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), in which three subordinate mice were observed to avoid the time of peak out-of-burrow activity of a dominant mouse (Bovet 1972).…”

Social forces can impact the circadian clocks of cohabiting hamsters

“…There is also anecdotal evidence that dominance could lead to temporal segregation. Bovet [21] reported one example in which three subordinate long-tailed field mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) avoided the time of peak out-of-burrow activity of a dominant mouse when housed together in a laboratory cage. While we did not observe sufficient aggression in our hamsters to determine the intra-pair hierarchy, we found circumstantial evidence suggesting dominance might play a role: affected hamsters weighed less than their non-affected cagemates and experienced partial testicular suppression (decreases in testis size).…”

“…For example, family groups and communities might coordinate their efforts to achieve common goals [34,35]. Conversely, when the social context involves competition, territoriality, dominance hierarchies or predator avoidance, one would predict segregation rather than synchronization of activity [21,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. A change in t may alter the timing of activity onset under entrained conditions (i.e.…”

“…On the day of surgery, hamsters were anaesthetized with ketamine (100-150 mg kg 21 , IP) and xylazine (10 mg kg 21 , IP). A small patch of fur was shaved on the lower abdominal surface and the area wiped clean with povidoneiodine solution.…”