The Population Dynamics of Confined House Mice Supplied with Unlimited Food

Southwick, Charles H.

doi:10.2307/1933227

Cited by 113 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…She observed that the male offspring do not wait until their fathers die before attempting to take over the dominant position in the hierarchy. Aggressive behaviors may also spiral toward violence under specific and/or unusual circumstances such as captivity (Carpenter 1934;Schaller 1963), crowding (Krebs 1970;Rowe et al 1964;Southwick 1958), colonization, unfamiliar odors and appearances (Steiniger 1950;Calhoun 1948), limited shelter, breeding sites, mates or food (Southwick 1955), sexual conflict (Scott 1962(Scott , 1963 and skewed sex ratios (Galliard et al 2005). Averting such circumstances has restored aggressive levels without individual mortality, for instance in fence lizards (Fitch 1941).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Failure of compliance, or competition between equally ranked individuals, eventually leads to overt offense. Intra-sexual competition for access to a mate is a notable example of such goal-driven aggression, which is terminated once the competitor submitted or has fled (Scott 1962(Scott , 1963. Although speculative, functional aggression is not anticipated to target vulnerable body parts even in the midst of an agonistic interaction unless challenged as seen in defensive aggression (Matthews 1964).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Delineation of Violence from Functional Aggression in Mice: An Ethological Approach

et al. 2008

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The present study aims at delineating violence from aggression, using genetically selected high (SAL, TA, NC900) and low (LAL, TNA NC100) aggressive mouse strains. Unlike aggression, violence lacks intrinsic control, environmental constraints as well as functional endpoints. Conventional measures namely latency, frequency and duration were used initially to accomplish the objective of delineation using the above strains. However, these quantitative measures fail to reveal further details beyond the magnitude of differential aggression, especially within the high aggressive mouse strains. Hence, it was necessary to analyze further, the behavioral sequences that make up the agonistic encounter. Novel measures such as threat/ (attack ? chase) (T/AC) and offense/withdrawal (O/W) ratios, context dependency and first-order Markov chain analysis were used for the above purpose. Our present analyses reveal clear qualitative behavioral differences between the three high aggressive selection strains based on the following facets namely structure and context in an agonistic interaction. Structure refers to a detailed study of the agonistic interaction components (ritualistic display, offense and sensitivity to the opponent submission cues) between any two subjects (inter-male interaction for the present study). Context refers to the capacity to identify an opponent by nature of its state (free moving/anesthetized), sex and the environment (home/neutral territory). NC900 displayed context dependency and structurally a rich repertoire of agonistic interaction components with an opponent. SAL failed to show discrimination and its intermale agonistic behavior is restricted to a repetitive and an opponent-insensitive pattern of attack and chase. TA was comparable to SAL in terms of the structure but sensitive to context variables. Thus, SAL seems to display a violent form of aggressive behavior, while NC900 display 'functional' hyperaggression against a docile opponent in an inter-male agonistic interaction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delineation of Violence from Functional Aggression in Mice: An Ethological Approach

et al. 2008

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“…We cannot assess the limitation of food and cover on the island, but we suspect that animals raised in the laboratory would be attracted to, and perhaps compete for space near food depots and cover. Southwick (1955) found that dominant male house mice can prevent subordinates from feeding freely. However, many more individuals appeared to include a feeding station in their home range than were caught at feeding station traps.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testosterone and competitive ability in male house mice, Mus musculus: laboratory and field studies

Zielinski

Vandenbergh

1993

Animal Behaviour

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Abstract. Testosterone enhances aggression and can facilitate dominance in mammals, but most studies have been conducted on laboratory strains of mice and in simple environments. Unlike previous studies, laboratory and field tests were conducted using wild house mice, Mus musculus, to determine whether males with high, but physiological, testosterone levels (High T) would achieve dominance compared with males with low testosterone levels (Low T). All males were castrated and androgen was replaced with a single injection of testosterone enanthate, a long-acting androgen. At 8 days post-treatment the mean testosterone concentration in High T males was 5 . 1 ng/ml, whereas the level in Low T males was 1 . 3 ng/ml. Contests in the laboratory revealed that High T males achieved dominance over Low T males in the presence of females. In the field, equal numbers of High and Low T males, and a corresponding number of females, were released on three highway islands at densities equivalent to the highest density reported on similar sites. Periodic retrapping produced a capture history for males in each group and differences in survival were analysed using the program SURVIV. High T males had a higher probability of survival than Low T males on one island, but on the other two islands the higher capture rates of High T males were not statistically greater than those for Low T males. Of those that survived to the first trapping episode, the High T males had greater subsequent longevity than Low T males. On all three islands High T males were caught more frequently at feeding stations that were established to enhance food competition. There were no differences among the home range sizes of High T males, Low T males and females. However, on two of the islands the ranges of High T males overlapped more of the ranges of resident females than those of Low T males. The findings from this study, using testosterone-treated subjects, suggest that natural variation in basal testosterone also may affect competitive ability in wild house mice.

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“…Early work to define the physiological basis of the regulation of size of laboratory populations of rodents focused on measures of adrenal hypertrophy, reproductive organ atrophy, decreased litter survival and diminished pregnancy and birth rates (Southwick, 1955;Christian, 1956Christian, ,1961Christian, , 1963Christian, , 1967Louch, 1956;Southwick & Bland, 1959;Thiessen & Rodgers, 1961 ;Bronson & Eleftheriou, 1963;Terman, 1969). It was proposed that ACTH was responsible for the observed adrenal hyper¬ trophy and reproductive inhibition, either through a direct inhibition of gonadotrophin secretion or indirectly through increased adrenocortical steroid production (Christian, 1963;Christian & Davis, 1964).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serum corticosterone concentrations in reproductively mature and inhibited deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii)

Sung¹,

Bradley²,

Terman³

1977

Reproduction

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The Population Dynamics of Confined House Mice Supplied with Unlimited Food

Cited by 113 publications

References 35 publications

Delineation of Violence from Functional Aggression in Mice: An Ethological Approach

Delineation of Violence from Functional Aggression in Mice: An Ethological Approach

Testosterone and competitive ability in male house mice, Mus musculus: laboratory and field studies

Serum corticosterone concentrations in reproductively mature and inhibited deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii)

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