First report on social behaviour of Apodemus hyrcanicus and A. witherbyi (Mammalia: Rodentia) from Iran

摘要

We present comparative behavioural data in two yet unstudied wood mice species: Apodemus hyrcanicus Vorontsov, Boyeskorov, Mezhzherin, Lyapunova et Kandaurov, 1992, a recently described endemic of the Hyrcanian forest along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, and the population coming from the Fars Province, Iran, belonging to A. witherbyi (Thomas, 1802). Eighty three dyadic interactions in a neutral cage were performed to quantify the behavioural patterns and to assess differences between the species and sexes. A. hyrcanicus spent high proportion of time by amicable behaviour and were not aggressive. In this respect, the patterns of their social behaviour resembled those of European populations of A. uralensis. In a sharp contrast, males of A. witherbyi were considerably more aggressive, and amicable acts were almost absent in both sexes of this species.