Wall-following behavior: Its ultimate and proximate explanations, prevalence, and implications

Scharf, Inon; Farji-Brener, Alejandro

doi:10.1016/bs.asb.2024.02.003

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 306 publications

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“…towards the tube, as if planning to use the tube in a future moment when the situation would have made it safer to take the tube (taking the tube while a hostile mouse is still inside it would lead to a fight). Finally, thigmotaxis (also known as wall hugging) is the tendency of rodents to avoid open spaces and stay close to vertical surfaces, especially in situations of anxiety [40][41][42]. The hypothesis of an instinctual thigmotactic reaction to the danger cue can be ruled out as well.…”

Section: Is the Behavioural Crypsis Of Black-striped Mice Instinctual...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception

d'Isa,

Parsons,

Chrzanowski

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Intentional tactical deception, the employment of a tactic to intentionally deceive another animal, is a complex behaviour based on higher-order cognition, that has rarely been documented outside of primates and corvids. New laboratory-to-field assays, however, provide the opportunity to investigate such behaviour among free-living mice. In the present study, we placed laboratory-style test chambers with a single entrance near a forest outside Warsaw, where we observed the social interactions of two territorial murids, black-striped and yellow-necked mice, under food competition for seven months. Notably, among the social interactions, we video-recorded 21 instances of deceptive pursuer evasion. In the most obvious cases, an individual inside the chamber, to avoid an incoming mouse, hid by the chamber opening (the only means to enter or exit), paused until the pursuer entered and passed by, and then exploited the distraction of the back-turned pursuer by fleeing through the opening in a direction opposite to the one the pursuer came from. This deceptive dodging is the first evidence of a behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception among mice. As such, this deceptive behaviour may be of interest not only for rodent psychology but also, more generally, for the fields of non-human intentionality and theory of mind.

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Section: Is the Behavioural Crypsis Of Black-striped Mice Instinctual...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception

d'Isa,

Parsons,

Chrzanowski

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Pit builders are assisted by walls to find suitable sites for pit construction but are slowed down by obstacles and their initial distance from the destination

Michaeli,

Nadu,

Subach

et al. 2024

Ecological Entomology

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Habitat selection plays a critical role in the survival and reproduction of animals, with implications for all important behaviours. Animals are often limited in their familiarity with their habitat and rely on their senses and the habitat structure to detect suitable sites to settle in. We focus here on a trap‐building predator, the wormlion, which constructs pitfall traps in loose soil, and examine how the distance from suitable microhabitats and the presence of obstacles affect its habitat selection. We conducted four experiments. Experiment 1 assessed the impact of distance on the probability of wormlions reaching a suitable microhabitat. Experiment 2 examined the interaction between distance and obstacles. Experiment 3 investigated the influence of walls on the probability of reaching destinations. Experiment 4 evaluated walls as either leading paths or barriers. Our results showed that increasing distance from the destination negatively affected the probability of wormlions reaching it, with larger individuals more likely to cover greater distances. Obstacles interacted with distance, generally decreasing movement when present. Walls positively influenced orientation, aiding wormlions in reaching suitable sites, either by following the wall or locating the destination along the wall. The function of walls varied, sometimes facilitating movement and sometimes decreasing it, depending on their orientation and context. These findings suggest that walls may serve as navigational aids for wormlions in urban environments, assisting them in locating suitable microhabitats. This has implications for understanding habitat selection in urban ecosystems. Future research should explore the long‐term effects of walls on wormlion survival and habitat quality in more natural settings.

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Wall-following behavior: Its ultimate and proximate explanations, prevalence, and implications

Cited by 2 publications

References 306 publications

Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception

Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception

Pit builders are assisted by walls to find suitable sites for pit construction but are slowed down by obstacles and their initial distance from the destination

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