Understanding behaviour: the relevance of ethological approaches in laboratory animal science

Olsson, I. Anna S.; Nevison, Charlotte M.; Patterson-Kane, Emily; Sherwin, CM; Weerd, Heleen van de; Würbel, Hanno

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(02)00285-x

Cited by 99 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 102 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Murine sensory biology has been reviewed elsewhere (Olsson et al, 2003), so will only be recapped here. The mouse's world is dominated by smell (e.g.…”

Section: Adaptability and Sensory Biology Of The House Mousementioning

confidence: 99%

“…McGregor and Ayling, 1990;Nevison et al, 1999b;van Loo et al, 2001). Olsson et al (2003) raise questions about the welfare impact of the lack of UV-wavelengths in indoor lighting; the effects of inbreeding on odour-based individual recognition; the lack of opportunities to burrow; and regular, scent-disruptive cage cleaning.…”

Section: Mouse Behavioural Biology and Welfare In The Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Novel ethologically-relevant tests can also be extremely valuable. Olsson et al (2003) and Gerlai and Clayton (1999) discuss how test stimuli should be suited to the mouse's sensory biases, and Birrell and Brown (2000) provide a nice example of this in rats, using olfactory and tactile stimuli as cues in a naturalistic task: digging for food. Deacon and co-workers Guenther et al, 2001;Cunningham et al, 2003) harnessed mouse digging and nesting in studies of prion disease, finding that reductions in these behaviours proved far more sensitive assays of disease onset than more traditional techniques like the scoring of clinical signs.…”

Section: Mouse Biology and The Behavioural Tests Used In Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dawkins, 1980;Jensen, 2000;Mason et al, 2001). This has been acknowledged for laboratory species (Home Office, 1986;Brain, 1992;Olsson et al, 2003), yet no up-to-date, detailed review exists for the free-living house mouse-even though mice are the most common research animal, with a world population of 30 million and rising (Mason and Latham, 2004). Our aim is to use a diverse array of peer-reviewed research papers, plus pest control publications (not refereed, but based on practical experience), to describe how free-living house mice view and interact with their world, and to illustrate how physical and social environments influence their development and behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

From house mouse to mouse house: the behavioural biology of free-living Mus musculus and its implications in the laboratory

Latham

Mason

2004

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

290

236

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding a species' behaviour in natural conditions can give insights into its development, responses and welfare in captivity. Here, we review research and pest control literatures on the free-living house mouse (Mus musculus), analysing its sensory world, developmental processes and behaviour to suggest how laboratory environments might affect mouse welfare, normalcy, test design, and behaviour. Mouse development from foetus to weaning is influenced by prenatal stress and nutrient levels, and post-natal litter size and other factors affecting maternal care, all with lasting effects on adult bodyweight, aggression, activity levels, stress responsiveness and masculinisation. These influences may well be important in the laboratory, for example unwittingly differing between facilities leading to site-differences in phenotype. Murine senses are dominated by olfactory, auditory and tactile cues. Their hearing extends into the ultrasonic, and vision, from mid-range wavelengths to the ultraviolet. In mouse facilities, behaviour and welfare may therefore also be affected by sensory stimuli unnoticed by humans. The physical and social environment and behaviour of wild mice differ greatly from those of laboratory mice. Dispersal age varies with resource-levels and social cues, and mice often either live alone or in family groups. Mice occupy territories/ranges measuring a few square meters to several square kilometers, and which allow running, climbing, and burrowing. Mice are often active during dawn/dusk, and spend their time patrolling their territories, investigating neighbours' odour cues, foraging, finding mates and rearing litters. The potential impact of these many differences and restrictions on laboratory mouse development, normalcy and welfare has only begun to be explored.

show abstract

“…Murine sensory biology has been reviewed elsewhere (Olsson et al, 2003), so will only be recapped here. The mouse's world is dominated by smell (e.g.…”

Section: Adaptability and Sensory Biology Of The House Mousementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mouse Behavioural Biology and Welfare In The Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mouse Biology and The Behavioural Tests Used In Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

From house mouse to mouse house: the behavioural biology of free-living Mus musculus and its implications in the laboratory

Latham

Mason

2004

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

290

236

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hurst et al, 1998;Patterson-Kane et al, 2002;Sharp et al, 2002), environmental enrichment (e.g. Patterson-Kane, 2001;Olsson et al, 2003;Burman et al, 2006), and reduction of stress and pain in procedures (Balcombe et al, 2004;Richardson and Flecknell, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rats seem indifferent between their own scent-marked homecages and clean cages

Burn

Mason

2008

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous large-scale, long-term studies suggest that rat welfare is little affected by cage-cleaning frequency. Here, we investigate this further using a preference test: arguably a more sensitive welfare indicator than those used previously. Nine pairs of rats were each housed in two interconnected cages of differing cleanliness. One cage was cleaned every 3-4 days, while the other remained uncleaned for 18 days. All rats were handled at each cage-cleaning (regardless of which cage they chose) so that this aspect of the cleaning routine remained consistent. Furthermore, ammonia build-up was negligible. We could thus see whether rats prefer their own scent-marks over clean bedding, without the confounds of differential handling or the potential harm induced by ammonia. Dwelling, resting, feeding, drinking, defecation, and ammonia concentrations were compared between the two cages. None were found to differ significantly between the cages over the course of the experiment. Power tests and confidence intervals support the conclusion that the rats had no meaningful preference for self-scented, familiar areas over clean areas. A weak preference cannot be ruled out, due to the small sample and the space limitations within laboratory cages. Also, the lack of ammonia means that the threshold at which rats would start to avoid soiled areas that do generate this compound remains undetermined. Nevertheless, together with previous studies showing no clear effects of cage-cleaning frequency on rat welfare, these choice tests indicate that it is unlikely that olfactory disruption during cage-cleaning is an important welfare concern for stable nonbreeding groups of rats. #

show abstract

The Mental Health of Laboratory Animals

King¹,

Rowan²

2005

Mental Health and Well‐Being in Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding behaviour: the relevance of ethological approaches in laboratory animal science

Cited by 99 publications

References 102 publications

From house mouse to mouse house: the behavioural biology of free-living Mus musculus and its implications in the laboratory

From house mouse to mouse house: the behavioural biology of free-living Mus musculus and its implications in the laboratory

Rats seem indifferent between their own scent-marked homecages and clean cages

The Mental Health of Laboratory Animals

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About