Female mice respond to male ultrasonic ‘songs’ with approach behaviour

Biology Letters - Tập 5 Số 5 - Trang 589-592 - 2009
Kurt Hammerschmidt1, Konstantin Radyushkin2, Hannelore Ehrenreich2, Julia Fischer1
1Cognitive Ethology, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany
2Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Max-Planck-Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany

Tóm tắt

The ultrasonic vocalizations of mice are attracting increasing attention, because they have been recognized as an informative readout in genetically modified strains. In addition, the observation that male mice produce elaborate sequences of ultrasonic vocalizations (‘song’) when exposed to female mice or their scents has sparked a debate as to whether these sounds are—in terms of their structure and function—analogous to bird song. We conducted playback experiments with cycling female mice to explore the function of male mouse songs. Using a place preference design, we show that these vocalizations elicited approach behaviour in females. In contrast, the playback of whistle-like artificial control sounds did not evoke approach responses. Surprisingly, the females also did not respond to pup isolation calls. In addition, female responses did not vary in relation to reproductive cycle, i.e. whether they were in oestrus or not. Furthermore, our data revealed a rapid habituation of subjects to the experimental situation, which stands in stark contrast to other species' responses to courtship vocalizations. Nevertheless, our results clearly demonstrate that male mouse songs elicit females' interest.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

10.1002/aja.1000300303

10.1126/science.214.4522.819

10.1530/jrf.0.0190215

10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.10.003

10.1017/CBO9780511754791

10.1038/312563a0

10.1007/BF01048004

10.1007/BF00619131

10.1007/BF00300645

10.1007/s003590050363

10.1016/j.cub.2008.01.060

10.1371/journal.pbio.0030386

10.1073/pnas.0711555105

10.1002/cne.21830

10.1201/9781420038736.sec1

10.1016/0031-9384(83)90101-4

Rosenblatt J. S., 1975, Prepartum and postpartum regulation of maternal behaviour in the rat, Ciba Found. Symp., 33, 17

Sales G. D., 1972, Ultrasound and mating behaviour in rodents with some observations on other behavioural situations, J. Zool. Lond., 168, 149, 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1972.tb01345.x

10.1016/j.brainres.2007.05.056

10.1371/journal.pone.0001365

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Biology Letters

Tập 5 Số 5

589-592

Thông tin tác giả