Urinary marking in male house mice: Responses to novel environmental and social stimuli☆

The effects of exposure to conspecific urine on urine-marking in male and female degus (Octodon degus)

“…The results of this study differ from several others (e.g., mice, Maruniak et al, 1974;Desjardins et al, 1973;dogs, Hart, 1974;marmosets, Callithrix facchus, Epple, 1970;hamsters, Johnston, in press a, b), where exposure to conspecifics or their odor greatly increased scent-marking levels. Except for Epple (1970), the above studies used only males as subjects.…”

“…Urine-marking has been almost ignored, except in species-exhibiting special postures for urine deposition on conspecifics (e.g., the caviomorph rodents; Kleiman, 1974). Urine-marking in more common laboratory rodents, such as mice, has only recently been investigated (Reynolds, 1971;Desjardins et al, 1973;Maruniak et al, 1974). Despite the relatively few investigations of urine-marking itself, there is considerable literature on the physiological and behavioral effects of urine and other biological scents (see Eisenberg and Kleiman, 1972;Johnson, 1973;Mykytowycz, 1970).…”

“…Individuals who were immobile appeared more stressed than individuals who moved around. Archer (1973) already has criticized the behaviors used as measures of "emotionality," and these findings further indicate that the results and assumptions of open-field tests must be reevaluated, especially when species are studied which may use urine and feces in the context of communication, e.g., rats and mice (Calhoun, 1963;Reynolds, 1971;Maruniak et al, 1974).…”

“…For example, Epple (1970) and Maruniak et al (1974) tested animals in what was essentially a home cage situation, while the degus were in a relatively unfamiliar cage which did not resemble the home environment. Presumably, the response to conspecific odor should depend on where it is encountered.…”

“…Further studies in which marking levels are monitored in a variety of social and non-social conditions are needed both for degus and other mammals before conclusions concerning motivation can be drawn. Recent attempts to ascribe simple motivational explanations to scent-marking in mice (Maruniak et al, 1974) do not consider that scent-marking levels are going to be influenced by the interaction of a variety of factors, such as age, sex, reproductive status, and social experience, as well as by immediate external stimuli.…”