No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment
In Africa, indigenous multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis) only appear to live commensally in houses when invasive black rats (Rattus rattus) are absent, yet little is known about the underlying mechanism. Avoidance through smell may cause the absence of M. natalensis from areas occupied by R. ra...
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ftjafricanj:oai:ojs.ajol.info:article/158620 2023-05-15T18:05:13+02:00 No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment Cuypers, Laura N. Cuypers, Wim L. Gildemyn-Blomme, Amélie Abraham, Laura Aertbeliën, Senne Massawe, Apia W. Borremans, Benny Gryseels, Sophie Leirs, Herwig 2017-07-11 application/pdf https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/158620 eng eng NISC (Pty) Ltd https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/158620/148242 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/158620 The copyright belongs to the Zoological Society of Southern Africa. African Zoology; Vol 52, No 2 (2017); 119-123 2224-073X 1562-7020 choice experiment interspecific competition invasion biology odour preference scent avoidance info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2017 ftjafricanj 2017-07-15T23:57:41Z In Africa, indigenous multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis) only appear to live commensally in houses when invasive black rats (Rattus rattus) are absent, yet little is known about the underlying mechanism. Avoidance through smell may cause the absence of M. natalensis from areas occupied by R. rattus, but this hypothesis has not yet been tested. We conducted a Y-maze choice experiment where 15 M. natalensis were offered a choice between corridors containing conspecific scent, R. rattus scent and a control scent. Residence time in the R. rattus corridor was greater than that in the control corridor but equal to that in the M. natalensis corridor, suggesting that multimammate mice do not actively avoid the scent of their invasive competitor.Keywords: choice experiment, interspecific competition, invasion biology, odour preference, scent avoidance Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus AJOL - African Journals Online |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
AJOL - African Journals Online |
op_collection_id |
ftjafricanj |
language |
English |
topic |
choice experiment interspecific competition invasion biology odour preference scent avoidance |
spellingShingle |
choice experiment interspecific competition invasion biology odour preference scent avoidance Cuypers, Laura N. Cuypers, Wim L. Gildemyn-Blomme, Amélie Abraham, Laura Aertbeliën, Senne Massawe, Apia W. Borremans, Benny Gryseels, Sophie Leirs, Herwig No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment |
topic_facet |
choice experiment interspecific competition invasion biology odour preference scent avoidance |
description |
In Africa, indigenous multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis) only appear to live commensally in houses when invasive black rats (Rattus rattus) are absent, yet little is known about the underlying mechanism. Avoidance through smell may cause the absence of M. natalensis from areas occupied by R. rattus, but this hypothesis has not yet been tested. We conducted a Y-maze choice experiment where 15 M. natalensis were offered a choice between corridors containing conspecific scent, R. rattus scent and a control scent. Residence time in the R. rattus corridor was greater than that in the control corridor but equal to that in the M. natalensis corridor, suggesting that multimammate mice do not actively avoid the scent of their invasive competitor.Keywords: choice experiment, interspecific competition, invasion biology, odour preference, scent avoidance |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cuypers, Laura N. Cuypers, Wim L. Gildemyn-Blomme, Amélie Abraham, Laura Aertbeliën, Senne Massawe, Apia W. Borremans, Benny Gryseels, Sophie Leirs, Herwig |
author_facet |
Cuypers, Laura N. Cuypers, Wim L. Gildemyn-Blomme, Amélie Abraham, Laura Aertbeliën, Senne Massawe, Apia W. Borremans, Benny Gryseels, Sophie Leirs, Herwig |
author_sort |
Cuypers, Laura N. |
title |
No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment |
title_short |
No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment |
title_full |
No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment |
title_fullStr |
No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment |
title_full_unstemmed |
No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment |
title_sort |
no evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment |
publisher |
NISC (Pty) Ltd |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/158620 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
African Zoology; Vol 52, No 2 (2017); 119-123 2224-073X 1562-7020 |
op_relation |
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/158620/148242 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/158620 |
op_rights |
The copyright belongs to the Zoological Society of Southern Africa. |
_version_ |
1766176670869356544 |