Male degus, <i>Octodon degus</i>, modify their dustbathing behavior in response to social familiarity of previous dustbathing marks

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorEbensperger, LA
dc.contributor.authorCaiozzi, A
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-21T01:30:29Z
dc.date.available2025-01-21T01:30:29Z
dc.date.issued2002
dc.description.abstractA previous experiment suggested that male degus, Octodon degus, use dustbathing during intrasexual communication. Herein, we assessed whether dustbathing by male and female degus is influenced by the social familiarity of previous marks. During 15-min tests, we contrasted the behavior of degus individually exposed during to an arena containing loose, previously dustbathed sand by a same-sex and socially familiar individual with that of degus exposed to an arena with soil previously dustbathed by a same-sex but socially unfamiliar conspecific. We measured the number of dustbathing events per min, the latency to first dustbathing event, and the location of dustbathing events by depositor and responder individuals. Both male and female degus dustbathe at a higher rate when subjected to soil previously used by a familiar conspecific than when exposed to a substratum previously dustbathed by an unfamiliar degu. The latency to first dustbathing event by responder male or female degus was unaffected by the social familiarity of previous marks left by depositors. Similarly, the place chosen by male and female responders to conduct their dustbathing behavior was unrelated to the micro-location of previous marks left by a familiar or an unfamiliar depositor degu. We conclude that degus are capable of discriminating socially familiar from unfamiliar scents of conspecifics and deposited in the substratum during dustbathing. We discuss the implications of such ability in the context of degu social behavior.
dc.fuente.origenWOS
dc.identifier.eissn0717-6317
dc.identifier.issn0716-078X
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/96777
dc.identifier.wosidWOS:000174872500015
dc.issue.numero1
dc.language.isoen
dc.pagina.final163
dc.pagina.inicio157
dc.revistaRevista chilena de historia natural
dc.rightsacceso restringido
dc.subjectsocial familiarity
dc.subjectsandbathing
dc.subjectscent marking
dc.subjectsocial communication
dc.subject.ods13 Climate Action
dc.subject.ods15 Life on Land
dc.subject.odspa13 Acción por el clima
dc.subject.odspa15 Vida de ecosistemas terrestres
dc.titleMale degus, <i>Octodon degus</i>, modify their dustbathing behavior in response to social familiarity of previous dustbathing marks
dc.typeartículo
dc.volumen75
sipa.indexWOS
sipa.trazabilidadWOS;2025-01-12
Files
Collections
Artículos de revistas