How to explore a new environment:exploratory tactics of the black rat(Rattus rattus)  

作　　者：Iveta Štolhoferová Veronika Rudolfová Hana Skalíková Barbora Vobrubová Daniel Frynta 

机构地区：[1]Department of Zoology,Faculty of Science,Charles University,Viničná7,12843 Prague 2,Czechia

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2024年第3期371-382,共12页动物学报（英文版）

基　　金：This project was supported by the Grant Agency of Charles University,project no.962120。

摘　　要：The black rat(Rattus rattus)is a unique model for studying exploratory tactics due to its enormous colonizing potential.Considerable behavioral variability and consistent interindividual differences might help populations inhabit new environments and persist there even under intense pressure.Additionally,the affnity of the black rat for climbing might be another advantage,widening their potential niche.In this study,we describe the exploratory tactics of the black rats when introduced to a novel environment.In the frst experiment,we tested 12 rats and calculated repeatability of their behaviors across 12 sessions of an enriched open-feld test.We concluded that climbing is a highly repeatable behavior that serves as an important source of interindividual variability.In the second experiment,we tested 24 black rats in a unique L-shaped arena.Each rat was tested twice.We found that the majority of rats distributed their activity evenly,exploring each part of the apparatus for a similar amount of time,thus maximizing their chances of fnding resources.Nevertheless,these“even”explorers still greatly differed in their level of activity,orderliness and affnity for climbing,generating large variability.In contrast,the minority of rats concentrated their activity only on a section of the new environment and were therefore characterized as selective explorers.Overall,we concluded that a combination of such exploratory tactics as well as a bias for even explorers enables black rats to quickly colonize new environments and persist there even under unfavorable conditions.

关 键 词：3D behavior CLIMBING REPEATABILITY strategy. 

分 类 号：Q95[生物学—动物学]