No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment
Abstract: 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 occupie...
Published in: | African Zoology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10067/1449000151162165141 |
id |
ftunivantwerpen:c:irua:144900 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivantwerpen:c:irua:144900 2023-07-16T04:00:39+02:00 No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment Cuypers, Laura Cuypers, Wim Gildemyn-Blomme, Amelie Abraham, Laura Aertbelien, Senne Massawe, Apia W. Borremans, Benny Gryseels, Sophie Leirs, Herwig 2017 https://hdl.handle.net/10067/1449000151162165141 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1080/15627020.2017.1307139 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/isi/000405330600005 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess 1562-7020 African zoology Biology info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2017 ftunivantwerpen https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2017.1307139 2023-06-26T22:23:02Z Abstract: 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus IRUA - Institutional Repository van de Universiteit Antwerpen African Zoology 52 2 119 123 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
IRUA - Institutional Repository van de Universiteit Antwerpen |
op_collection_id |
ftunivantwerpen |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology |
spellingShingle |
Biology Cuypers, Laura Cuypers, Wim Gildemyn-Blomme, Amelie Abraham, Laura Aertbelien, 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 |
Biology |
description |
Abstract: 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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cuypers, Laura Cuypers, Wim Gildemyn-Blomme, Amelie Abraham, Laura Aertbelien, Senne Massawe, Apia W. Borremans, Benny Gryseels, Sophie Leirs, Herwig |
author_facet |
Cuypers, Laura Cuypers, Wim Gildemyn-Blomme, Amelie Abraham, Laura Aertbelien, Senne Massawe, Apia W. Borremans, Benny Gryseels, Sophie Leirs, Herwig |
author_sort |
Cuypers, Laura |
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 |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10067/1449000151162165141 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
1562-7020 African zoology |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1080/15627020.2017.1307139 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/isi/000405330600005 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2017.1307139 |
container_title |
African Zoology |
container_volume |
52 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
119 |
op_container_end_page |
123 |
_version_ |
1771549652067287040 |