Movement patterns of male common voles ( Microtus arvalis ) in a network of Y junctions: role of distant visual cues and scent marks

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Author: Dobly, Alexandre
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2001
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Burrows; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z01-191; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z01-191

Common voles (Microtus arvalis) use networks of runways around their burrows, which are dug in meadows. Their orientation among such networks could be based on rigid "egocentred" routes (possibly through the use of olfactory "trails") or on more general, "allocentred" spatial representations (with distant visual cues). In this 5-day study, male voles should reach food in the centre of a maze of three-way (Y) junctions offering similar local views but surrounded by distant visual cues. I tested whether the animals navigated using olfactory trails, implying one main direct foraging route, or allocentered representations, allowing flexibility among equivalent routes. Males quickly marked their environment, preferentially at the periphery, where they moved the most. However, during most direct trips between the nest and the food, they used one of the central shortest routes, which included the least scent-marked zones. Moreover, the voles preferred different shortest routes to go to the food and return from it, showing a bias in favour of the side where the distant goal (food or nest) was situated. This suggests that male common voles base their choices on the general direction of their goal rather than on trails. Finally, there was no major difference in initial exploration between a clean and a scent-marked maze.