title: Effects of the sex of the resident adult and of the sex of the opponent on interactions in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus).
abstract: Mated pairs of Mongolian gerbils were rejoined by two of their own young, one of each sex, after periods of separation starting when the young were four or seven weeks old and lasting either one or four weeks. An additional sub-group of litters was separated when six weeks old, for a period of separation of two weeks. In another group of mated-pairs, mated-adults were introduced and observed in the same way. Occurrences of sniffing, opposition and pursuit between each adult and each intruder was noted over a period of one hour. A clear effect of the sex of the resident adult on agonistic behaviour was evident. The adult female develops its agonistics acts sooner than the male i.e. it is more responsive than the male to a short duration of separation from the juveniles. The adult female shows either pursuit or opposition to juveniles but shows almost no agonistic behaviour in the presence of unrelated adults. As for the adult male, its agonistic acts begin to appear after four weeks of separation and persist with very frequent opposition, in adult-adult meetings. The sex of the intruder only appeared to be a significant factor after four weeks of separation. After four weeks of separation, opposition of the adult male to the young male was significantly higher than that to the young female. Sniffing of the young male by the adult female was significantly higher than that of the young female. With the same period of separation, but with opponents of eleven weeks, as well as in meetings of adults, each resident adult had a greater number of interactions with the intruder of the same sex.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Ethologie, Université Claude Bernard. 86 rue Pasteur, 69007 Lyon, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Le Guelte
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Le Berre
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coulon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amagat