Scent marking by common voles Microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour
Several vole species use scent marked runways radiating from their burrows for foraging and dispersion. These marks are probably used for social communication. This 4-day laboratory study investigated the environmental and social causations of marking inside pre-existing corridors in male and female...
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ftunivbruxelles:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/164246 2023-05-15T17:12:28+02:00 Scent marking by common voles Microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour Dobly, Alexandre 2005-09 No full-text files http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/164246 en eng uri/info:scp/26944494911 http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/164246 Acta Theriologica, 50 (3 Sciences et médecine vétérinaires Evolution des espèces Ecologie Microtus arvalis Novelty Odour Rodent Runways Territory defence info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:ulb-repo/semantics/articlePeerReview info:ulb-repo/semantics/openurl/article 2005 ftunivbruxelles 2022-06-12T21:25:36Z Several vole species use scent marked runways radiating from their burrows for foraging and dispersion. These marks are probably used for social communication. This 4-day laboratory study investigated the environmental and social causations of marking inside pre-existing corridors in male and female common voles Microtus arvalis (Pallas, 1778). Firstly I tested the novelty and the reinforcement hypotheses in isolated voles, predicting respectively a habituation or a continuous increase in mark deposition. I then confronted with each other two same-sex voles for two days to investigate the differences between males and females in the pattern of marks inside three corridors, one of which runs along the common partition with the neighbour. I tested the self-advertisement and territorial-defence hypotheses, respectively predicting in the presence of a neighbour either a similar marking between the three corridors or a greater marking in the corridor close to the neighbour than in the two other corridors. The results showed no habituation in marking, even in a familiar environment, confirming the reinforcement hypothesis. After the addition of a neighbour, only the females left more marks in the corridor that ran alongside the common border than in the two other corridors. The territorial-defence hypothesis was thus confirmed in (territorial) females while the self-advertisement was supported in (non-territorial) males. Finally, I tested the competitive-ability hypothesis in females, stating that the abundance of scent marks of an individual before a social interaction can predict its degree of intolerance in a future social interaction. The results from female pairs physically interacting for four days support the hypothesis. SCOPUS: ar.j info:eu-repo/semantics/published Article in Journal/Newspaper Microtus arvalis DI-fusion : dépôt institutionnel de l'Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) Burrows ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.300,-74.300) The Corridor ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DI-fusion : dépôt institutionnel de l'Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivbruxelles |
language |
English |
topic |
Sciences et médecine vétérinaires Evolution des espèces Ecologie Microtus arvalis Novelty Odour Rodent Runways Territory defence |
spellingShingle |
Sciences et médecine vétérinaires Evolution des espèces Ecologie Microtus arvalis Novelty Odour Rodent Runways Territory defence Dobly, Alexandre Scent marking by common voles Microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour |
topic_facet |
Sciences et médecine vétérinaires Evolution des espèces Ecologie Microtus arvalis Novelty Odour Rodent Runways Territory defence |
description |
Several vole species use scent marked runways radiating from their burrows for foraging and dispersion. These marks are probably used for social communication. This 4-day laboratory study investigated the environmental and social causations of marking inside pre-existing corridors in male and female common voles Microtus arvalis (Pallas, 1778). Firstly I tested the novelty and the reinforcement hypotheses in isolated voles, predicting respectively a habituation or a continuous increase in mark deposition. I then confronted with each other two same-sex voles for two days to investigate the differences between males and females in the pattern of marks inside three corridors, one of which runs along the common partition with the neighbour. I tested the self-advertisement and territorial-defence hypotheses, respectively predicting in the presence of a neighbour either a similar marking between the three corridors or a greater marking in the corridor close to the neighbour than in the two other corridors. The results showed no habituation in marking, even in a familiar environment, confirming the reinforcement hypothesis. After the addition of a neighbour, only the females left more marks in the corridor that ran alongside the common border than in the two other corridors. The territorial-defence hypothesis was thus confirmed in (territorial) females while the self-advertisement was supported in (non-territorial) males. Finally, I tested the competitive-ability hypothesis in females, stating that the abundance of scent marks of an individual before a social interaction can predict its degree of intolerance in a future social interaction. The results from female pairs physically interacting for four days support the hypothesis. SCOPUS: ar.j info:eu-repo/semantics/published |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dobly, Alexandre |
author_facet |
Dobly, Alexandre |
author_sort |
Dobly, Alexandre |
title |
Scent marking by common voles Microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour |
title_short |
Scent marking by common voles Microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour |
title_full |
Scent marking by common voles Microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour |
title_fullStr |
Scent marking by common voles Microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour |
title_full_unstemmed |
Scent marking by common voles Microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour |
title_sort |
scent marking by common voles microtus arvalis in the presence of a same-sex neighbour |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/164246 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.300,-74.300) ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582) |
geographic |
Burrows The Corridor |
geographic_facet |
Burrows The Corridor |
genre |
Microtus arvalis |
genre_facet |
Microtus arvalis |
op_source |
Acta Theriologica, 50 (3 |
op_relation |
uri/info:scp/26944494911 http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/164246 |
_version_ |
1766069260429295616 |