Are male meadow voles ( Microtus pennsylvanicus ) influenced by social odor context with regard to scent marking behaviors?

Ethology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan C. Scauzillo ◽  
Michael H. Ferkin
Keyword(s):  
Scent Marking ◽  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Social Odor

The effect of social odour context on the amount of time male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, self-groom

Behaviour ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 157 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 879-900
Author(s):  
Ryan C. Scauzillo ◽  
Michael H. Ferkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Information ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Olfactory Communication ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Target Individual ◽  
The Social ◽  
Grooming Behaviour

Abstract Communicational behaviours by individuals provide information for not only the intended target(s) of the signal but any non-target individual(s) that may be nearby. For terrestrial mammals a major form of communication and social information is through odours via scent marking and self-grooming. Self-grooming is a ubiquitous behaviour in mammals with the function thought to primarily be centred on personal care. But it has been found in rodents that self-grooming will occur in the presence of social odours thus potentially serving a communicative role. For example, male meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) self-groom in the presence of a female conspecific odour but not a male conspecific odour. Most studies examining self-grooming as a form of olfactory communication have used single odour donors but in a natural environment individuals will come across complex social odour situations. Therefore, we examined how male meadow voles respond to complex social odours with regards to their self-grooming behaviour. We tested the hypothesis that self-grooming can act as a form of olfactory communication and that male meadow voles will control this behaviour measured by differences in self-grooming rates based on social contexts. Male meadow voles did not show differences in the amount of time spent self-grooming to social odours that contained a female and varying number of rival males (0, 1, 3, or 5) or if the social odour contained an acquainted or novel male. Male meadow voles did self-groom more to a social odour that contained a female and a younger male compared to when the social odour contained a female and older male. Male meadow voles appear to adjust their self-grooming behaviour based on the context of the social information. This may be a strategy that can maximize that individual’s fitness by adjusting how much information is provided to potential rivals and mates.

Effect of protein content of the diet on scent marking and over-marking behavior in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus

Behaviour ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 148 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1027-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. Ferkin ◽  
Nicholas J. Hobbs
Keyword(s):  
Protein Content ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Protein Diet ◽  
Scent Marks ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Opposite Sex

AbstractDifferences in the protein content of individuals may affect their response to signals produced by opposite-sex conspecifics and how opposite-sex conspecifics respond to the individual's own signals. Many terrestrial mammals use over-marks to communicate with potential mates. In this study, we determined whether over-marking behavior is affected by the protein content of the top- and bottom-scent donors of an over-mark. We tested two hypotheses by performing two experiments on meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, in which the top- or bottom-scent donors of an over-mark were fed a diet containing either 9, 13, or 22% protein; these protein concentrations are similar to those that voles may consume in free-living populations. In experiment 1, we varied the protein content of the top-scent voles but not that of the bottom-scent donor. We tested the hypothesis that top-scent donor voles fed a diet high in protein content deposit more scent marks and more over-marks than do top-scent donor voles fed diets lower in protein content. In experiment 2, the top-scent voles were fed a 22% protein diet but the protein content of the diet of the bottom-scent donor varied. We tested the hypothesis that the top-scent donor will deposit more scent marks if the bottom-scent vole was fed a diet high in protein content than if it was fed a diet lower in protein content. Protein content of the top-scent vole's diet did not affect the number of scent marks and over-marks it deposited. Likewise, the protein content of the bottom-scent vole did not affect the number of scent marks and over-marks deposited by the top-scent vole.

Winter coexistence of voles in spruce forest: relevance of seasonal changes in aggression

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 1004-1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian N. Turner ◽  
Michael R. Perrin ◽  
Stuart L. Iverson
Keyword(s):  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Meadow Vole ◽  
Breeding Period ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Vole Population ◽  
Reproductive Condition ◽  
Interspecific Aggression ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Nonbreeding Season ◽  
Short Period

Beginning in November 1973, numerous meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) moved onto a spruce forest grid occupied by red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi). A resident meadow vole population resulted, the two species coexisting until April 1974, when most meadow voles disappeared from the grid during a relatively short period. Interspecific aggression levels, as determined from voles temporarily removed from the populations and tested in paired encounters in a laboratory arena, were low during the winter, but increased when males of both species entered reproductive condition in the spring. Microtus was generally dominant in early breeding period encounters, but this dominance declined concurrently with the meadow voles' disappearance from the forest. It is argued that meadow voles did not leave the forest to breed, or because the snow cover melted, since this species will live and reproduce in forest in the absence of Clethrionomys. The results are interpreted as support for an earlier hypothesis that competitive habitat exclusion varies seasonally with reproduction-related aggression. Thus, these species apparently may coexist in either of their preferred habitats when interspecific aggression is low (the nonbreeding season), but this relationship terminates when interspecific aggression levels increase with the resumption of breeding in the spring.

scholarly journals The duration of sociosexual behaviors in male meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus varies before, during, and after copulation

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashlee A. Vaughn ◽  
Daniel A. Ferkin ◽  
Javier Delbarco-Trillo ◽  
Michael H. Ferkin
Keyword(s):  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Meadow Voles

Abstract The behaviors that surround copulation are characterized as sociosexual behaviors. These behaviors displayed by males that are directed at females may include allogrooming, wrestling, chasing, approach, and time spent together. The data supported the hypothesis that the duration of sociosexual behaviors differs during the pre-copulatory, peri-copulatory, and post-copulatory phases of the mating bout in meadow voles. Voles spent more time approaching conspecifics during the pre- and peri-copulatory phases than during the post-copulatory phase. Voles spent more time allogrooming, wrestling, and chasing during the pre-copulatory phase than during the peri- and post-copulatory phases. Voles spent similar amounts of time together during the pre-, peri-, and post-copulatory phases. The data suggest that sociosexual behaviors displayed by males may be involved in setting the pace and temporal components of the mating bout. During the pre-copulatory phase particular behaviors by male voles may attract females, during the peri-copulatory phase some of these behaviors may stimulate or motivate the female to mate, and during the post-copulatory phase certain behaviors may prepare the male to mate again.

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