Constraints on Social Transmission of Food Selection by Roof Rats, Rattus Rattus

黑鼠食物選擇社訊傳遞之限制

周蓮香(Lien-Siang Chou) ； Rex.E.Marsh and Peter. J. Richerson

《Acta Zoologica Taiwanica》 11卷2期 (2000/07) Pp. 95-109

https://doi.org/10.6576/AZT.2000.11.(2).3

摘要

以三條路徑來研究黑鼠食物消息的社訊傳遞行為：水平（不熟識的成鼠傳給成鼠），斜向（不熟識的成鼠傳給幼鼠），及垂直（母鼠傳給幼鼠）等三類路徑。實驗設計是先使示範者進食一種加味食物，然後使示範者與觀察者共處一會，再給觀察者雙擇測驗，探測其對兩種新食物的偏好性。我們發現黑鼠在垂直及斜向社訊傳遞中，觀察者明顯的偏好示範者食用過的食物；此現象在水平傳遞並不顯著。較年幼黑鼠的斜向傳遞較年長之幼鼠為強。此結果與褐鼠比較後發現，黑鼠的社訊傳遞行為在幼鼠成長後受到限制。在生態學意義上，此現象可能與隨機攝食、社群大小等生活史特徵有關。

關鍵字

黑鼠 ； 社訊傳遞 ； 食物選擇

並列摘要

The social transmission of food information by roof rats was investigated using three transmitting pathways: horizontal--unrelated adult to adult, oblique--unrelated adult to pup, and vertical--mother to pups. The observer was given a two-choice preference test between two novel diets after it interacted with a demonstrator who had one type of diet. We found that observers showed a significantly higher preference for the diet that demonstrators had consumed in vertical and oblique transmission; no significant preference was observed for the diet consumed in horizontal transmission. Oblique social transmission was stronger for younger than for older pups. Comparing these results with those of Norway rats, it appears that the capacity for social transmission of roof rats became constrained when the observers aged. This could be related to ecological life histories, i.e., opportunistic feeding strategies and social group size.

並列關鍵字

Rattrus rattus ； Social transmission ； Food selection