title: Social transmission of flavor preferences in two species of hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus and Phodopus campbelli).
abstract: Golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) and dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) interacted with a conspecific demonstrator that had recently consumed a flavored food. When given a choice between their demonstrator's flavor and another flavor, the dwarf hamsters preferred the flavor their demonstrator had eaten. Golden hamsters did not prefer their demonstrators' diets when the demonstrators were unrelated adults or littermates, but they did when the demonstrator was their mother. Videotaping the interactions between demonstrators and observers revealed that adult golden hamsters did not investigate foods hoarded by their demonstrators whereas dwarf hamsters did. These results are interpreted in terms of the stimuli that activate feeding behavior systems in these 2 hamster species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506-5401, USA. gwenl@ksu.edu
authors.forename: Gwen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lupfer
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frieman
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coonfield
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002755:Choice Behavior; D006224:Cricetinae; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D017111:Phodopus; D011897:Random Allocation; D012919:Social Behavior; D013649:Taste