Familiarity and mating behavior in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum (tuco-tuco)

2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (9) ◽  
pp. 944-955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxana R. Zenuto ◽  
Candelaria Estavillo ◽  
María Sol Fanjul
Keyword(s):  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Scent Mark ◽  
Subterranean Rodents ◽  
Subterranean Rodent ◽  
Odor Cues ◽  
Mating Costs ◽  
Neighbor Recognition ◽  
Ctenomys Talarum

Biological odors that convey cues regarding individual identity are known to alter mating behavior in some rodents. Deposition of chemical signals by males on the substrate could give females information about their neighbors’ identity and allow familiarization with their odors. This study tested whether familiarization of females with conspecific male odors affects mating behavior in Ctenomys talarum Thomas, 1898, facilitating mating as a consequence of a decrease in aggressive behavior and an increase in sexual behavior. Tuco-tucos are solitary subterranean rodents that occupy and defend adjacent burrows. Both sexes usually scent-mark burrow openings, providing odor signals to neighbors during their aboveground patrolling and foraging activities. Hence, familiarity by odor cues may represent an important mechanism that mediates neighbor recognition and probably mate selection. In this study, familiarity was established by housing females with male odors for 8 days. In C. talarum, individual recognition by olfactory cues may reduce mating costs when pairing with neighbors, since females showed low aggression towards familiar males and copulations were not repeated in consecutive days. Females that were not exposed to male odors were more aggressive, but surprisingly these pairs copulated repeatedly.

scholarly journals Effects of parasitism on antipredatory responses and defensive behaviors in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Brachetta ◽  
Cristian Schleich ◽  
Roxana R. Zenuto
Keyword(s):  
Mate Selection ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Subterranean Rodent ◽  
Predator Cues ◽  
Biological Communities ◽  
Behavioral Adaptations ◽  
Defensive Behaviors ◽  
Ctenomys Talarum ◽  
Evolutionary Force ◽  
Elevated Maze

Predation represents an important evolutionary force shaping specific adaptations. Prey organisms present behavioral adaptations that allow them to recognize, avoid and defend themselves from their predators. In addition to predation, there is a growing consensus about the role of parasitism in the structuring of biological communities. In vertebrates, the effects on hosts include changes in daily activity, feeding, mate selection, reproduction, and modifications in responses to environmental stimuli. These behavioral variations can benefit the parasite (parasitic manipulation), benefit the host, or appear as a side effect of the infection. We evaluated the influence of parasitism on the behavioral and physiological response of Ctenomys talarum (Thomas 1898) to predator cues. We found that individuals exposed to cat odors and immobilization entered less often and stayed less time in the transparent arms of elevated maze, exhibiting a preference for protected areas (anxiogenic response). Additionally, we evaluated if the presence of parasites affected antipredatory behaviors in tuco-tucos (naturally parasitized, deparasitized or inoculated with Eimeria sp.). We did not find differences among the groups as regards responses to predator cues. Therefore, while exposure to predator cues triggered a stress response, the manipulation of parasite loads did not modify homeostasis under these experimental conditions.

Cost of foraging in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum: effect of soil hardness

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. 661-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Facundo Luna ◽  
C. Daniel Antinuchi
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Subterranean Rodents ◽  
Subterranean Rodent ◽  
Thomomys Bottae ◽  
Soil Hardness ◽  
Ctenomys Talarum ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Subterranean Species

Subterranean burrows provide inhabitants with shelter, a relatively stable thermal environment, and potentially access to food resources. However, one cost of living in such burrows is the energetically expensive mode of locomotion. Soil hardness and the physiological capabilities of animals are likely important factors that affect the cost of burrow construction, and hence, distribution of burrows. We assessed the effect of soil hardness on the cost of digging by captive individual Ctenomys talarum Thomas, 1898 in soft soils. Digging metabolic rate (DMR) was higher in harder soil than in softer soil (408.30 ± 51.35 mL O2·h–1 vs. 267.59 ± 20.97 mL O2·h–1, respectively). In C. talarum, a higher soil hardness augments DMR by increasing, in terms of the cost of burrowing model, the costs of shearing and of pushing the removed soil. Additionally, these costs differ between C. talarum and other subterranean species (e.g., Thomomys bottae (Eydoux and Gervais, 1836)), depending on soil hardness and digging mode. Thus, the relationship between digging cost and soil hardness appears to be one of the most important factors that affect burrowing efficiency in subterranean rodents.

scholarly journals The Possible Role of the Uropygial Gland on Mate Choice in Domestic Chicken

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Hirao
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Copulatory Behavior ◽  
Uropygial Gland ◽  
Odor Cues ◽  
Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Efferent Projections ◽  
Opposite Sex

In avian mating systems, male domestic fowls are polygamous and mate with a number of selected members of the opposite sex. The factors that influence mating preference are considered to be visual cues. However, several studies have indicated that chemosensory cues also affect socio-sexual behavior, including mate choice and individual recognition. The female uropygial gland appears to provide odor for mate choice, as uropygial gland secretions are specific to individual body odor. Chicken olfactory bulbs possess efferent projections to the nucleus taeniae that are involved in copulatory behavior. From various reports, it appears that the uropygial gland has the potential to act as the source of social odor cues that dictate mate choice. In this review, evidence for the possible role of the uropygial gland on mate choice in domestic chickens is presented. However, it remains unclear whether a relationship exists between the uropygial gland and major histocompatibility complex-dependent mate choice.

DNA fingerprinting reveals polygyny in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum

1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1529-1532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxana R. Zenuto ◽  
Eileen A. Lacey ◽  
Cristina Busch
Keyword(s):  
Dna Fingerprinting ◽  
Subterranean Rodent ◽  
Ctenomys Talarum

Bite force and jaw biomechanics in the subterranean rodent Talas tuco-tuco (Ctenomys talarum) (Caviomorpha: Octodontoidea)

2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Becerra ◽  
Alejandra Echeverría ◽  
Aldo Iván Vassallo ◽  
Adrià Casinos
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Force Transducer ◽  
Bite Force ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Subterranean Rodent ◽  
Soil Hardness ◽  
Ctenomys Talarum ◽  
Adductor Muscles ◽  
Typical Habitat

The Talas tuco-tuco ( Ctenomys talarum Thomas, 1898) is a South American subterranean rodent that digs using both forelimbs and incisors, the latter being used when animals face hard soils and fibrous roots. In this rodent, the incisors are also used during intermale competition for mates. Bite forces were measured on wild females (n = 21) and males (n = 21) (both adult and young individuals) using a force transducer. Bite force was significantly higher in adult males than in females (32 vs. 27 N, respectively). Bite forces calculated on the physiological cross-section of jaw adductor muscles in dissected specimens were slightly higher than in vivo measurements. Regressions against body mass showed that bite force scaled with positive allometry, with slopes of 0.89 (females) and 0.99 (males). No significant differences were observed, neither in the slope nor in the y intercept of both sexes’ equations; therefore intersexual differences in bite forces observed in adults should mainly be due to size dimorphism. Considering that soil hardness of C. talarum’s typical habitat averages 100 N/cm2, and taking into account incisor’s cross-section, it was assessed that the pressure exerted by jaw adductor muscles at the incisors level is three times higher than that required for soil penetration.

Facultative sociality in a subterranean rodent, the highland tuco-tuco (Ctenomys opimus)

2020 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 918-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon L O’Brien ◽  
Mauro N Tammone ◽  
Pablo A Cuello ◽  
Eileen A Lacey
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Subterranean Rodents ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Subterranean Rodent ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
The Social ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Facultative Sociality

Abstract Understanding why social relationships vary among conspecifics is central to studies of animal behaviour. For many species, patterns of space use provide important insights into social behaviour. To characterize the social organization of the highland tuco-tuco (Ctenomys opimus), we used visual observations and radiotelemetry to quantify spatial relationships among adults in a population at Laguna de los Pozuelos, Jujuy Province, Argentina. Specifically, we sought to confirm anecdotal reports that these subterranean rodents are social, meaning that adults share burrow systems and nest sites. Our data indicate that the animals live in spatially distinct groups, although the number of individuals per group varies markedly. Although these relationships were robust with regard to location (above vs. below ground) and type of data (visual vs. telemetry), some groups identified during the daytime fissioned during the night. We suggest that the population of C. opimus at Pozuelos is facultatively social, meaning that individuals display predictable, adaptive differences in social relationships with conspecifics. More generally, our findings add to the growing number of subterranean species of rodents recognized as social, thereby generating new opportunities for comparative studies of these animals aimed at assessing the causes and consequences of variation in social organization.

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