Impact of male presence on female sociality and stress endocrinology in wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus)

PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR

卷:189

Article

Weidt, Andrea^1,6  Gygax, Lorenz²  Palme, Rupert³  Touma, Chadi⁴  Koenig, Barbara⁵ 

[1] Univ Zurich, Inst Zool, Winterthurerstr 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland

[2] Humboldt Univ, Dept Crop & Anim Sci, Unter Linden 6, D-10099 Berlin, Germany

[3] Univ Vet Med Vienna, Inst Biochem, Vet Pl 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria

[4] Univ Osnabruck, Dept Behav Biol, Barbarastr 11, D-49076 Osnabruck, Germany

[5] Univ Zurich, Dept Evolutionary Biol & Environm Studies, Winterthurerstr 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland

[6] Ingolstadter Str 11, D-60316 Frankfurt, Germany

关键词: Dominance hierarchy;    Elo-rating;    Fecal corticosterone metabolites;    Female competition;    Female-female interactions;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.02.039

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

In group living animals, reproductive competition plays an important role in shaping social relationships and associations among female group members. in this study, we investigated the impact of male presence on the development of female-female competition and female sociality in groups of female wild house mice, using physiological and behavioral parameters. We predicted that, by eliciting intra-sexual competition, males influence social relationships among female group members and thus affect female associations to potential cooperation partners. To test this hypothesis we compared stress hormone production, the frequency of agonistic interactions, social hierarchies and social partner preferences in groups of unrelated, unfamiliar females in the absence and presence of males. Our results revealed no indication that the introduction of males into all-female groups of wild house mice elicited increased competition among female group members, neither on the physiological nor on the behavioral level. We found no effect of male presence on female glucocorticoid secretion, aggression, dominance hierarchies or on the females' sociability. Females thus seem not to intensely compete over access to males. This female ability to behaviorally and physiologically deal with even previously unfamiliar same-sex group members may be an important feature of female house mouse societies. In fact, it could be a necessary prerequisite to establish cooperative relationships between females in the context of reproduction, such as communal nursing of young.

【 授权许可】

Free