Territorial behaviour in corn mice, Calomys musculinus (Muridae: Sigmodontinae), with regard to mating system

STEINMANN A.; PRIOTTO JOSÉ; POLOP JAIME

Journal of Ethology

Espringer

Año: 2009 p. 51 - 58

0289-0771

We studied territorial behaviour of Calomysmusculinus, a promiscuous-polygynous species, in order totest the predictions that during the breeding period, homerange-owner females are more aggressive than home-rangeintruders and that males do not display territorial behaviour.At the core of the breeding season, we conducted 136intrasexual and 66 intersexual encounters. The study wascarried out in four 0.25-ha enclosures, each containing oneindependent population. We studied territorial behaviourutilising focal animal sampling to record behaviour.Encounters were conducted in a circular opaque arena(COA) near the home-range’s activity mathematical centre(AMC). Amicable behaviour was not observed in any ofthe 78 trials among females. The rates of aggressive andsubmissive behaviour per female–female encounters variedin relation to whether they were home-range owners orintruders, the former being aggressive, the latter submissive.So we could link these drives to the territorialbehaviour of C. musculinus. This result fits well with thealready known territoriality of C. musculinus during thebreeding season. In contrast, the 58 intrasexual maleencounters did not show direct aggressive interactionsbetween them. The rates of the different behavioursbetween males did not vary in relation to whether theywere home-range owners or intruders. In our study, whichtook place during the breeding period, C. musculinus maleswere nonterritorial, and they never exhibited aggressivenesstowards females.