title: Behavioural and nociceptive response in male and female spiny mice (Acomyscahirinus) upon exposure to snake odour.
abstract: Predator cues (both mammalian odour or avian vocalizations) are known to elicit fear-associated responses in rodents, including analgesia. In previous studies it was reported that spiny mice fail to show fear responses when presented with the calls of an owl. In order to test the hypothesis that this species (living in semiarid and rocky areas) may react to stimuli coming from reptilian predators, 40 sexually mature spiny mice (20 males, 20 females) were individually exposed to a small cylinder containing either fresh sawdust or snake odour. Behavioural changes (5 min before and 15 min after odour exposure) as well as the subsequent performance in a hot-plate test (50±0.5°C) were assessed. Results indicate that exposure to the odour of a sympatric terrestrial predator affected both behavioural and physiological responses of spiny mice. Upon exposure to snake odour both sexes showed significant changes in the patterns of inactivity, sniffing, grooming, sniffing the stimulus object (SO), withdraw reaction and in the frequency of somersaults. However, males increased the frequency of rearing, sniffing the SO, decreasing grooming more than females. No analgesic effect of odour exposure emerged; however, males showed significantly shorter latencies and higher frequencies of hindpaw licking compared to females.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 14, Groningen 9750 AA, The Netherlands; BCN, School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carere
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Medicina Sperimentale, CNR, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Casetti
authors.affiliation: Section of Behavioural Pathophysiology, Lab. Fisiopatologia O.S., Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Acetis
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Medicina Sperimentale, CNR, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perretta
authors.affiliation: Section of Behavioural Pathophysiology, Lab. Fisiopatologia O.S., Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cirulli
authors.affiliation: Section of Behavioural Pathophysiology, Lab. Fisiopatologia O.S., Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alleva