Mammalian Behaviour and Evolution Group, Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Leahurst Campus, Neston, CH64 7TE, UK.
Sci Rep. 2018 Nov 15;8(1):16850. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35089-w.
Communal breeding is characterised by shared care of offspring produced by more than one female, and can affect the behavioural development of young. The decision to care communally can vary according to local conditions, and has been hypothesised to occur more frequently when social competition is intense. However, it is unknown whether communal rearing of young influences adult behaviours likely to be adaptive under competitive conditions. Here, using a controlled experimental approach, we investigate effects of communal rearing on competitive and exploratory behaviours of adult male house mice. In tests of competitive scent marking, only communally-reared subjects discriminated between related and unrelated rivals, depositing more scent marks in close proximity to unrelated males. Communally-reared subjects also displayed higher exploratory tendencies, with an increased probability of crossing a water barrier, while not exhibiting higher activity levels in an open field test. Since exploration tendencies and discrimination between kin and non-kin are likely to be advantageous when dispersing from the natal territory or in a high density population, our findings suggest that communal rearing prepares male house mice for a competitive social environment. Our results add to growing evidence that the early social environment influences development of important behavioural competences to cope with social challenges later in life.
群居繁殖的特点是多个雌性共同照顾后代，这会影响幼崽的行为发育。共同照顾的决定可能因当地情况而异，当社会竞争激烈时，这种情况更有可能发生。然而，目前尚不清楚幼年时的群居饲养是否会影响在竞争环境下可能具有适应性的成年行为。在这里，我们使用对照实验的方法，研究了群居饲养对雄性家鼠成年后的竞争和探索行为的影响。在竞争气味标记测试中，只有群居饲养的雄性会区分亲缘关系和非亲缘关系的对手，会在更靠近非亲缘关系雄性的地方留下更多的气味标记。群居饲养的雄性还表现出更高的探索倾向，跨越水障的概率增加，而在开阔场地测试中并没有表现出更高的活动水平。由于探索倾向和对亲缘关系和非亲缘关系个体的区分，在从出生地或在高密度种群中扩散时可能是有利的，因此我们的研究结果表明，群居饲养使雄性家鼠适应竞争激烈的社会环境。我们的研究结果增加了越来越多的证据，即早期的社会环境会影响到重要的行为能力的发展，以应对以后生活中的社会挑战。
