Mus cypriaeus is a recently discovered endemic species that evolved about half a million years ago on the Cyprus Is- land in an absence of most mammalian predators and competitors. As on other Mediterranean islands, t...Mus cypriaeus is a recently discovered endemic species that evolved about half a million years ago on the Cyprus Is- land in an absence of most mammalian predators and competitors. As on other Mediterranean islands, the faunal composition was dramatically changed by the invasion of commensal and domestic species following Holocene colonization by humans. We exa- mined the behavioral responses of the Cypriot mouse to the odors of these new competitors （black and Norway rat, house mouse and spiny-mouse） and predator （domestic cat） as well as controls （Herb-field mouse, guinea pig）. We compared them with those of mainland population of house mouse from Syria with different coexistence history. Surprisingly, the Cypriot mouse failed to avoid the odor of its current main competitor, the black rat. Moreover, the response patterns of both the Cypriot and Syrian house mice to the examined odor sources appeared fairly comparable. There was a clear tendency to prefer odors of other murids over unscented sawdust as well as to avoid the odor of a domestic cat. In conclusion, neither the long-term isolation from predators nor the recent strong competition with black rats affected mice eompetitory and antipredatory responses fundamentally [Current Zoology 61 （4）： 781-791, 2015].展开更多
Ability to recognize a risk of predation and react with adaptive antipredatory behavior can enhance fitness, but has some costs as well. Animals can either specifically react on the most dangerous predators （threat-s...Ability to recognize a risk of predation and react with adaptive antipredatory behavior can enhance fitness, but has some costs as well. Animals can either specifically react on the most dangerous predators （threat-sensitive avoidance） or they have safe but costly general wariness avoiding all potential predators. The level of threat may depend on the predator＇s foraging ecology and distri- bution with the prey with sympatric and specialist species being the most dangerous. We used 2 choice trials to investigate antipredatory behavior of captive born and wild-caught leopard geckos confronted with different snake predators from 2 families （Colubridae, Boidae） varying in foraging ecology and sympatric/allopatric distribution with the geckos. Predator-na＇ive subadult individuals have general wariness, explore both chemically and visually, and perform antipredatory postures toward a majority of snake predators regardless of their sympatry/allopatry or food specialization. The most exaggerated antipredatory postures in both subadult and adult geckos were toward 2 sympatric snake species, the spotted whip snake Hemorrhois ravergieri, an active forager, and the red sand boa Eryxjohnii, a subterranean snake with a sit-and-wait strategy. In contrast, also subter- ranean but allopatric the Kenyan sand boa Eryx colubrinus did not elicit any antipredatory reaction. We conclude that the leopard gecko possesses an innate general antipredatory reaction to different species of snake predators, while a specific reaction to 2 particular sympatric species can be observed. Moreover, adult wild caught geckos show lower reactivity compared with the captive born ones, presumably due to an experience of a real predation event that can hardly be simulated under laboratory conditions.展开更多
文摘Mus cypriaeus is a recently discovered endemic species that evolved about half a million years ago on the Cyprus Is- land in an absence of most mammalian predators and competitors. As on other Mediterranean islands, the faunal composition was dramatically changed by the invasion of commensal and domestic species following Holocene colonization by humans. We exa- mined the behavioral responses of the Cypriot mouse to the odors of these new competitors （black and Norway rat, house mouse and spiny-mouse） and predator （domestic cat） as well as controls （Herb-field mouse, guinea pig）. We compared them with those of mainland population of house mouse from Syria with different coexistence history. Surprisingly, the Cypriot mouse failed to avoid the odor of its current main competitor, the black rat. Moreover, the response patterns of both the Cypriot and Syrian house mice to the examined odor sources appeared fairly comparable. There was a clear tendency to prefer odors of other murids over unscented sawdust as well as to avoid the odor of a domestic cat. In conclusion, neither the long-term isolation from predators nor the recent strong competition with black rats affected mice eompetitory and antipredatory responses fundamentally [Current Zoology 61 （4）： 781-791, 2015].
文摘Ability to recognize a risk of predation and react with adaptive antipredatory behavior can enhance fitness, but has some costs as well. Animals can either specifically react on the most dangerous predators （threat-sensitive avoidance） or they have safe but costly general wariness avoiding all potential predators. The level of threat may depend on the predator＇s foraging ecology and distri- bution with the prey with sympatric and specialist species being the most dangerous. We used 2 choice trials to investigate antipredatory behavior of captive born and wild-caught leopard geckos confronted with different snake predators from 2 families （Colubridae, Boidae） varying in foraging ecology and sympatric/allopatric distribution with the geckos. Predator-na＇ive subadult individuals have general wariness, explore both chemically and visually, and perform antipredatory postures toward a majority of snake predators regardless of their sympatry/allopatry or food specialization. The most exaggerated antipredatory postures in both subadult and adult geckos were toward 2 sympatric snake species, the spotted whip snake Hemorrhois ravergieri, an active forager, and the red sand boa Eryxjohnii, a subterranean snake with a sit-and-wait strategy. In contrast, also subter- ranean but allopatric the Kenyan sand boa Eryx colubrinus did not elicit any antipredatory reaction. We conclude that the leopard gecko possesses an innate general antipredatory reaction to different species of snake predators, while a specific reaction to 2 particular sympatric species can be observed. Moreover, adult wild caught geckos show lower reactivity compared with the captive born ones, presumably due to an experience of a real predation event that can hardly be simulated under laboratory conditions.
