A methodological analysis of behavioural observation in social African mole rats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia)
-
Niels Desmet
,
Paul A.A.G. Van Daele
Abstract
This study evaluates a number of methodological aspects regarding the recording and analysis of social behaviour in mole rat colonies (Bathyergidae, Rodentia). Behavioural observations were carried out on a colony of wild-caught Fukomys micklemi, in order to define an efficient, standardised method for future research. First, durations of work behaviour were scored and compared with data expressed as frequencies (recording method used in previous research). Second, a comparison was made between a terrarium set-up and a set-up with a perspex tunnel system, including a digging unit. Third, observations were carried out at different times of the day in order to map daily activity patterns. Our results show that the set-up with the tunnel system evokes more work activity and increases behavioural resolution. Using frequencies showed to be a better proxy for activity than the labour-intensive scoring of durations. Interindividual variation in activity patterns over a 24-h period were shown to be highly variable, and the moment of peak activity was not consistent. Observations should thus be carried out randomly during the day to avoid any temporal bias.
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Original Studies
- Species richness and distribution of Neotropical rodents, with conservation implications
- Demographics, diet, movements, and survival of an isolated, unmanaged raccoon Procyon lotor (Procyonidae, Carnivora) population on the Outer Banks of North Carolina
- Distribution and population status of Przewalski’s gazelle, Procapra przewalskii (Cetartiodactyla, Bovidae)
- Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus distribution and fisheries interactions in the Atlantic Sahara during the second half of the 20th century
- Phenotypic changes and small mammal impoverishment on a Brazilian Atlantic Forest Island
- A methodological analysis of behavioural observation in social African mole rats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia)
- Resource partitioning in three syntopic forest-dwelling European bat species (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)
- Sexual size dimorphism and testis size allometry in tuco-tucos (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae)
- Molecular phylogeny of the Iranian Plateau five-toed jerboa, Allactaga (Dipodidea: Rodentia), inferred from mtDNA
- Short Notes
- Molecular variation and chromosomal stability within Gerbillus nanus (Rodentia, Gerbillinae): taxonomic and biogeographic implications
- Association of the southern Amazon red squirrel Urosciurus spadiceus Olfers, 1818 with mixed-species bird flocks
- New distributional records for bats of the Argentine Patagonia and the southernmost known record for a molossid bat in the world
- The first historical record of a rhinoceros in Togo
