Ontogeny of social hierarchy in two European house mouse subspecies and difference in the social rank of dispersing males

Abstract

In social species such as house mouse, being dominant is vital. Determination of dominance may start early in life and vary during ontogeny. We asked whether pre-pubertal and adolescent behaviour predicts the rank a male mouse finally obtains. Moreover, we asked how dominant vs. subordinate adults differ in exploration and propensity to emigrate. We studied fraternal pairs as the simple social units, from weaning to full-grown adulthood. By utilizing two mouse subspecies known to differ in many behavioural traits, we take into account any potential subspecific idiosyncrasies. We did not find any significant effect of future social status on any behavioural type displayed before adulthood, but the subspecies themselves differ in behaviours prevailing in particular ontogeny phases. While musculus males start as more pro-social, they later became significantly more passive. Conversely, domesticus are slightly less passive at the beginning but significantly more proactive close to adulthood and rapidly establishing hierarchy through overt conflicts. We found no difference in exploration between ranks, however, domesticus males were significantly more active in an unknown area than musculus. Most importantly, while dominant domesticus males seem to be more prone to emigration, in musculus it was the subordinate males who left base significantly more often. This is consistent with extended contests of musculus males over dominance found in this study as well as with differences in endocrinological changes we have reported previously.

Keywords: Aggression; Dispersal; Dominance; Exploration; House mouse; Ontogeny.